LEADING CANADIAN HARM REDUCTION EXPERTS AND LAWMAKERS TO SPEAK AT 9TH SYMPOSIUM ON HIV, LAW, AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Media Invited to Join Virtual Sessions on Drug Policy Landscape in Canada
For immediate release
Aussi disponible en français
Members of the media are invited to attend Hitting the Mark: Ending the HIV pandemic by realizing rights for people who use drugs — a free, bilingual (English/French), virtual event that will examine Canada’s current reality and what needs to be done to achieve global HIV targets and eventually overcome this decades-long public health challenge. Specific and timely topics will include drug decriminalization, expanding the reach of supervised consumption services, and scaling-up safe supply in this country.
WHAT: The HIV Legal Network’s 9th Symposium on HIV, Law, and Human Rights. (See detailed schedule here.)
WHEN: Thursday, June 17, 2021 | 12:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. EDT
WHERE: Due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, this year’s Symposium will be held virtually. Registration can be done through the HIV Legal Network’s website at www.hivlegalnetwork.ca/symposium.
WHO: (In order of appearance)
Richard Elliott (Executive Director, HIV Legal Network)
Patty Hadju (Federal Minister of Health, via video address)
Nathaniel Erskine-Smith (Member of Parliament, sponsor of drug law reform bills)
Don Davies (Member of Parliament, sponsor of drug decriminalization bill)
El Jones (Educator/Journalist/Activist, and member of the Health Canada Expert Task Force on Substance Use)
Caitlin Shane (Drug policy lawyer, Pivot Legal Society)
Joe Cressy (Toronto City Councillor, Chair of Toronto Board of Health)
Sandhia Vadlamudy (Executive Director, Association des intervenants en dépendance du Québec)
Sandra Ka Hon Chu (Director of Policy and Advocacy, HIV Legal Network)
Garth Mullins (Host, Crackdown podcast)
Elaine Hyshka (Professor, University of Alberta)
Corey Ranger (Clinical Nurse Coordinator, AVI Health and Community Services SAFER Pharmaceutical Alternatives)
Kim Brière-Charest (Outreach Intervention Program Coordinator, L’Anonyme)
Avnish Nanda (Nanda & Company, counsel on case seeking to preserve access to injectable opioid agonist therapy in Alberta)
Shanell Twan (Alberta Addicts Who Educate and Advocate Responsibly, Canadian Association of People Who Use Drugs)
Andrea Sereda (safe supply prescriber, London Intercommunity Health Centre)
Mark Tyndall (physician advocate behind MySafe project of dispensing machines for safe supply of hydromorphone)
Registration for the event is free and the Symposium will be held securely on Zoom. Interviews with select panelists are available on request.
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Media Contact:
Janet Butler-McPhee
Director of Communications and Advocacy, HIV Legal Network
Mobile: 647-295-0861
Email: jbutler@hivlegalnetwork.ca