Kate J has been hard at work for the past few months for Fife House on preparing for the launch of HealthyHousing.ca, a National HIV/Housing Portal, which is a space for people living with HIV/AIDS (PHAs), service providers and researchers to learn more about issues related to HIV/AIDS and housing. The website is the result of a community partnership between Fife House, a supportive housing provider located in downtown Toronto, and the Ontario HIV Treatment Network, a collaborative network to promote excellence and innovation in HIV treatment, research and education …

I can’t wait!  Don’t really see how they’re linked, (just like I also don’t really get what cupcakes have to do with earthquakes either) but I love a good charity gimick, and I love a good group fitness class!

Running for a Reason is proud to present Black 2 Basics for Haiti. This fun, high energy fitness event will be held at Circa on January 31st. B2B for Haiti will attract health and fitness enthusiasts of all ages. In addition, the event will provide a fun opportunity for us to help …

Tuesday January 19
FILM: Earth 2100 Film screening and discussion on climate change, peak oil and population growth. 6:30 pm. Free. Annette LIbrary, 145 Annette. green13toronto.blogspot.com.
Wednesday, January 20
LECTURE: Build Social Capital with Robert Campbell. 6:00pm-9:00pm. Centre for Social Innovation, Suite 120.
LECTURE: Allies In Protecting The Environment: First Nations And The Land Lecture by Six Nations Eco Centre manager Paul General. 7:30-9:30 pm. $12. Toronto Botanical Garden, 777 Lawrence E. nanps.org.
LECTURE: Canada’s Role In The Global Water Crisis Lecture. 4:10 pm. Free. U of T Faculty Club, 41 Willcocks. environment.utoronto.ca.
Thursday, January …

FEATURED EVENT OF THE WEEK:
EVENT: Empower: Youth, Arts And Activism
World AIDS Day launch of an HIV/AIDS activism manual for youth with drag shows, visual art and more. Thursday, November 26. 6:00-9:00 pm. Free. William Doo Auditorium, 5 Willcocks. cuhi.admin@utoronto.ca.
CONFERENCE: Ivey Global Health Innovation Conference
Tuesday, November 24, 2009. 7:30 am -5:00 pm. The Fairmont Royal York. 100 Front St. W. Toronto. www.ivey.ca/ichil
SEMINAR: Research 2 Receptor Series - BioMass and Green Energy
Tuesday, November 24. 11:30 am - 6:00 pm. University of Guelph, Ridgetown Campus. Guelph Ontario. www.research2receptor.com/ridgetown.html
SUMMIT: Cultural Knowledge and the …

Young Voices in Research for Health 2009, an annual joint publication by the Global Forum on Health Research and the Lancet is just out, and here’s an excerpt of my contribution (you can also read the full article on Scribd or download the pdf if you want.)
The godparents of global health meeting at Alma Ata may not have had BlackBerrys or MacBooks, but if they were to meet again now, they would almost certainly include technology in their toolkits for promoting health for all.  In the next few pages, we …

I’m a strong believer in communication as a vehicle for change.  This might sound like a generic statement, but that’s just because I’m not as good of a communicator as I’d like to be.  I’ve been realizing that a lot of what I idolize in others is the power of communication.  Paul Farmer is great because he’s so good at explaining and contextualizing human rights and social justice in health.  And the fact that he leads by example communicates a lot as well.  James Orbinski’s wikipedia entry states that he …

FEATURED EVENT OF THE WEEK:

BLOG ACTION DAY 2009: Climate Change
Thursday October 15, 2009. Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day on their own blogs with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance. Blog Action Day 2009 will be the largest-ever social change event on the web. One day. One issue. Thousands of voices. www.blogactionday.org.
LECTURE: The Nuclear Question Physicians for Global Survival
Forum with physician/activist Helen Caldicott. Tuesday October 13, 2009. Noon-1:30 pm. …

Before travelling to Africa with Belinda Stronach a couple of summers ago, Rick Mercer vowed never to “come back from Africa like one of the arseholes on TV who won’t shut up about Africa”.  After reneging on that promise (which is fine with me!) the two of them started Spread the Net, a charity (obviously) focused on reducing the incidence of malaria through the purchase of bed nets (also obvious).
Mercer was here in Vancouver this week to promote Spread the Net’s Student Challenge, pitting high schools and universities against each …

I opened up the August Age issue of Vogue earlier this week to find that within the first few pages of the magazine there were two articles that focused on a public figure discussing their involvement with a charity. Christy Turlington and “It” girl of the moment (according to Vogue) Liya Kebede, in this case both represented causes that work in developing countries. I had a thought and decided to do a bit more investigating and it turned out that almost every magazine that I opened up in August featured …

Recently guest posted at mascmag.com (”a space for young men to explore how masculinity affects their lives”):
One of the greatest stereotypes about men is that they hate going to the doctor, especially when it comes to sex.  The recent Toronto Teen Survey on sexual health backs this up: in Toronto, young women are twice as likely to access sexual health services than men.  What’s the story here?

In general, Toronto youth aren’t accessing sexual health care.  The survey, which included more than 1200 teens from all around the city, shows that …