Catherine Anita Hankins OC (born 1949) is a Canadian epidemiologist. Hankins was the Deputy Medical Officer of Health at Calgary Health Services before accepting a faculty position at McGill University.
Hankins was born in 1949. [1] She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in French and medical degree from the University of Calgary. In recognition of her contributions to AIDS research,the institution recognized Hankins as a Distinguished Graduate in 1993. [2] Hankins subsequently earned her Master's of Science degree from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and her PhD from the University of Amsterdam. [3]
In 1983,Hankins was appointed Deputy Medical Officer of Health at Calgary Health Services as the country dealt with the AIDS epidemic. [4] While serving in this role,she found meat linked to E. coli which caused kidney failure in three children and she sent 49 raw hamburger samples to a laboratory in Edmonton. [5] Hankins was also appointed chairwoman of the National Task Force on HIV-AIDS and Injection Drug Use where she encouraged the use of safe injection sites and legalization of drugs. [6] She urged the country to move quickly in response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic and said that if Ottawa doesn't respond to her group's call then "there will be the continuation of the HIV epidemic,and expansion of that epidemic into the heterosexual population who do not inject drugs." [7] Hankins was soon called by the Quebec government to oversee a public health campaign on the importance of safe sex practices and condom use. However,days,before that campaign was set to launch,Thérèse Lavoie-Roux,caved to pressure from a Catholic lobby group and pulled the campaign. [8] [9]
By 2002,Hankins was recruited by the United Nations to serve as their Chief Scientific Adviser to UNAIDS in Geneva where she led the scientific knowledge translation team focusing on "ensuring ethical and participatory HIV prevention trial conduct,convening mathematical modelling teams,and supporting country implementation of proven biomedical HIV prevention modalities." [10] A decade later,in 2012,the Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development appointed Hankins as Deputy Director of Science where she would "oversee a range of HIV prevention research,including intervention and demonstration projects,as well as scientific knowledge translation." [11] The following year,she was elected a Member of the Order of Canada for "her contributions to combatting the spread of HIV/AIDS in Canada and abroad" [12] and was hired to teach at McGill University. [8]
During the COVID-19 pandemic in North America,Hankins was named to the leadership team of the national COVID-19 Immunity Task Force. [13] In this role,she aimed to get an antibody test approved and standardized across the country and define how the virus was spread. [8] In order to complete this objective,the Task Force funded a survey carried out by Statistics Canada to find out how many Canadians were infected by COVID by November. [14]
The AIDS epidemic,caused by HIV,found its way to the United States between the 1970s and 1980s,but was first noticed after doctors discovered clusters of Kaposi's sarcoma and pneumocystis pneumonia in homosexual men in Los Angeles,New York City,and San Francisco in 1981. Treatment of HIV/AIDS is primarily via the use of multiple antiretroviral drugs,and education programs to help people avoid infection.
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS is the main advocate for accelerated,comprehensive and coordinated global action on the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Supervised injection sites (SIS) or drug consumption rooms (DCRs) are a health and social response to drug-related problems. They are fixed or mobile spaces where people who use drugs are provided with sterile drug use equipment and can use illicit drugs under the supervision of trained staff. They are usually located in areas where there is an open drug scene and where injecting in public places is common. The primary target group for DCR services are people who engage in risky drug use.
The United States President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is the global health funding by the United States to address the global HIV/AIDS epidemic and help save the lives of those suffering from the disease. The U.S. allocation of over $110 billion marks the largest investment by any country has ever made towards combating a single disease. Launched by U.S. President George W. Bush in 2003,as of May 2020,PEPFAR has provided cumulative funding for HIV/AIDS treatment,prevention,and research since its inception,making it the largest global health program focused on a single disease in history until the COVID-19 pandemic. PEPFAR is implemented by a combination of U.S. government agencies in over 50 countries and overseen by the Global AIDS Coordinator at the United States Department of State. As of 2023,PEPFAR has saved over 25 million lives,primarily in sub-Saharan Africa.
The International AIDS Society (IAS) is the world's largest association of HIV/AIDS professionals,with 11,600 members from over 170 countries as of July 2020,including clinicians,people living with HIV,service providers,policy makers and others. It aims to reduce the global impact of AIDS through collective advocacy. Founded in 1988,IAS headquarters are located in Geneva,and its president since 2024 is Beatriz Grinsztejn.
The global pandemic of HIV/AIDS began in 1981,and is an ongoing worldwide public health issue. According to the World Health Organization (WHO),by 2023,HIV/AIDS had killed approximately 40.4 million people,and approximately 39 million people were infected with HIV globally. Of these,29.8 million people (75%) are receiving antiretroviral treatment. There were about 630,000 deaths from HIV/AIDS in 2022. The 2015 Global Burden of Disease Study estimated that the global incidence of HIV infection peaked in 1997 at 3.3 million per year. Global incidence fell rapidly from 1997 to 2005,to about 2.6 million per year. Incidence of HIV has continued to fall,decreasing by 23% from 2010 to 2020,with progress dominated by decreases in Eastern Africa and Southern Africa. As of 2023,there are about 1.3 million new infections of HIV per year globally.
The situation with the spread of HIV/AIDS in Russia is described by some researchers as an epidemic. The first cases of human immunodeficiency virus infection were recorded in the USSR in 1985-1987. Patient zero is officially considered to be a military interpreter who worked in Tanzania in the early 1980s and was infected by a local man during sexual contact. After 1988—1989 Elista HIV outbreak,the disease became known to the general public and the first AIDS centers were established. In 1995-1996,the virus spread among injecting drug users (IDUs) and soon expanded throughout the country. By 2006,HIV had spread beyond the vulnerable IDU group,endangering their heterosexual partners and potentially the entire population.
The history of HIV/AIDS in Australia is distinctive,as Australian government bodies recognised and responded to the AIDS pandemic relatively swiftly,with the implementation of effective disease prevention and public health programs,such as needle and syringe programs (NSPs). As a result,despite significant numbers of at-risk group members contracting the virus in the early period following its discovery,Australia achieved and has maintained a low rate of HIV infection in comparison to the rest of the world.
HIV/AIDS was first detected in Canada in 1982. In 2018,there were approximately 62,050 people living with HIV/AIDS in Canada. It was estimated that 8,300 people were living with undiagnosed HIV in 2018. Mortality has decreased due to medical advances against HIV/AIDS,especially highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).
AIDS Vancouver,founded in early 1983,is recognized as one of the first community-based non-profit AIDS organizations in Canada,responding to the HIV/AIDS crisis in the Vancouver area. Led by co-founders Gordon Price,Noah Stewart,Dr. Mike Maynard,Daryl Nelson,and Ron Alexander Slater,the organization has aimed to provide support,education,and advocacy for individuals affected by HIV/AIDS. With a focus on grassroots efforts and community mobilization,AIDS Vancouver has been involved in efforts to address the spread of HIV and support individuals living with the virus. In March 2024,AIDS Vancouver changed its purpose,values,and name to support and empower people living with HIV for years to come,and is now operating as Ribbon Community Society,with its programs and services remaining the same.
Discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS or serophobia is the prejudice,fear,rejection,and stigmatization of people with HIV/AIDS. Marginalized,at-risk groups such as members of the LGBTQ+ community,intravenous drug users,and sex workers are most vulnerable to facing HIV/AIDS discrimination. The consequences of societal stigma against PLHIV are quite severe,as HIV/AIDS discrimination actively hinders access to HIV/AIDS screening and care around the world. Moreover,these negative stigmas become used against members of the LGBTQ+ community in the form of stereotypes held by physicians.
Agnes Binagwaho is a Rwandan Politician,pediatrician,co-founder and the former vice chancellor of the University of Global Health Equity (2017-2022). In 1996,she returned to Rwanda where she provided clinical care in the public sector as well as held many positions including the position of Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Health of Rwanda from October 2008 until May 2011 and Minister of Health from May 2011 until July 2016. She has been a professor of global health delivery practice since 2016 and a professor of pediatrics since 2017 at the University of Global Health Equity. She has served the health sector in various high-level government positions. She resides in Kigali.
The Canadian Association for HIV Research (CAHR) is an organization that represents HIV/AIDS research in Canada or by Canadians. CAHR includes all researchers and all disciplines of the scientific approaches to HIV and AIDS,for the purpose of its better prevention and treatment and ultimately for its eradication and cure. Disciplines represented by CAHR include basic science,clinical science,epidemiology/public health and social science.
Quarraisha Abdool Karim is an infectious diseases epidemiologist and co-founder and Associate Scientific Director of CAPRISA. She is a Professor in Clinical Epidemiology,Columbia University,New York and Pro-Vice Chancellor for African Health,University of KwaZulu-Natal,South Africa.
Dr. Debrework Zewdie,former director of the World Bank Global AIDS Program and Deputy Executive Director and COO of the Global Fund,is an Ethiopian national who has led strategy,policy implementation,and management of development programs at country,regional,and global levels for international bodies such as the World Bank and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS,Tuberculosis and Malaria. As an immunologist,she conceptualized and managed the groundbreaking US$1 billion Multi-country HIV/AIDS Program that changed the AIDS funding landscape and pioneered the large-scale multi-sectorial response with direct financing to civil society and the private sector. Dr. Zewdie led the articulation of the World Bank's first global strategy on HIV/AIDS and the Global HIV/AIDS Program of Action. As a founding UNAIDS Global Coordinator,she has been instrumental in making the unique cooperative structure of the UNAIDS family a working reality,fostering strong inter-agency partnerships. She is an advocate for women's health and was a founding vice president and member of the Society for Women and AIDS in Africa (SWAA). She established institutional rigor at the Global Fund and led its wide-ranging internal reform which culminated in the ongoing corporate transformation program. Dr. Zewdie has a Ph.D. in clinical immunology from the University of London,a postdoctoral fellowship at SYVA Company,and was a Senior MacArthur Fellow at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies. Dr. Zewdie was a Richard L. and Ronay A. Menschel Senior Leadership Fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 2015. During her Fellowship at the Harvard Chan School,she also participated as a speaker on Voices in Leadership,an original webcast series,in a discussion titled,"Leadership in Getting AIDS on the World Bank Agenda",moderated by Dr. Barry Bloom.
Deborah Leah Birx is an American physician and diplomat who served as the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator under President Donald Trump from 2020 to 2021. Birx specializes in HIV/AIDS immunology,vaccine research,and global health. Starting in 2014,she oversaw the implementation of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program to support HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention programs in 65 countries. From 2014 to 2020,Birx was the United States global AIDS coordinator for presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump and served as the United States special representative for global health diplomacy between 2015 and 2021. Birx was part of the White House Coronavirus Task Force from February 2020 to January 2021. In March 2021,Birx joined ActivePure Technology as Chief Medical and Science Advisor.
Gita Ramjee was a Ugandan-South African scientist and researcher in HIV prevention. In 2018,she was awarded the ‘Outstanding Female Scientist’award from the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership. She died in uMhlanga,South Africa,from COVID-19 related complications.
Oni Blackstock is an American primary care and HIV physician,researcher,and founder of Health Justice,a racial and health equity consulting practice. She previously served as assistant commissioner for the Bureau of HIV for the New York City Department of Health,where she led the city's response to the HIV epidemic. Her research considers the experiences of women and people of color in healthcare. During the COVID-19 pandemic Blackstock shared advice on how people in New York City could maintain sexual health and slow the spread of COVID-19 as well as guidance for people with HIV and HIV care providers about the intersection of HIV and COVID-19.
Deborah McColl Money is a Canadian obstetric and gynaecological infectious disease specialist. As a professor at the University of British Columbia,she was the first non-US President of the Infectious Diseases Society for Obstetrics and Gynecology from 2010 until 2012.
Susan Swindells is an AIDS researcher.