Men's Wellness Program

Men's Wellness Discussion Group

Recognizing that men's and women's health issues are unique has become a recognized fact in medicine in the recent past. With this in mind, and feeling at a bit of a loss sometimes in BC's health care system, a group of men in the Comox Valley began a Men's Wellness Discussion Group in January.

While many thoughts and ideas were brought forward at the first meetings of these self-directed sessions, the group has chosen to begin compiling a list of health care professionals between Parksville and Campbell River as its first project. A simple survey has been developed and will be sent to medical and health care professionals in the near future. Among other questions, health care providers are being asked if they are accepting new patients, if they have a specialty of any type and if they consider their practice to be gay friendly. Once the surveys are back, the information will be compiled on a database and will be available for anyone in the region who would like to access the list.

NEW MONTHLY GAY-BI CURIOUS CHEW AND CHAT

HOSTED BY MARTIN AND JOHN
AT APPETIT FOOD FOR THOUGHT
1ST AVE. LADYSMITH

MENU:
CEASAR SALAD
GRILLED MILD COCNUT CURRY CHICKEN
TEA OR COFFE
$10.00

COME OUT FOR A SUPER MEAL AND GREAT CONVERSATION

THIS EVENT WILL OCCUR ON THE FIRST WEDNESDAY OF EACH MONTH, IT IS ALSO A BYOB EVENT

"Almost One in 10 Straight Men on the ‘Down-Low,’ Study Finds"
Philadelphia Inquirer, (09.19.2006) Dawn Fallik
A 2003 random telephone survey sample of 4,193 male New York City residents found a high proportion of men self-identifying as heterosexual nevertheless also reporting sex with men. The study is a wake-up call for doctors not to make assumptions about their patients' sexual behavior, or rely upon self-reported identities, but rather to focus on behavior, said researchers.

The annual New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (MHH) survey found the majority of heterosexual-identifying men who have sex with men (MSM) did not use condoms, and 70 percent were married. Most heterosexual-identifying MSM were racial and ethnic minorities or foreign-born persons.

"We found that those who identified as straight but had sex with men were also less likely to be HIV tested within the last year and less likely to use a condom" than men who identified as gay, said Preeti Pathela, an MHH research scientist.

Gay, Bi and Transgender Guys Chat n' Chew, Courtenay

A monthly social nite for guys in and around the Comox Valley.

Location
Cloves Bistro 307 B 14th Street at Cliffe in Courtenay
7-9 The 3rd Thursday of every month

call 1 866 277 9055 for more info

The fab folks at CBRC are doning the Sex Now Survey again!

check it out and let us know what's hot.

www.sexnowsurvey.com

15-20 guys are showing up for the coffee nite every Tuesday at Serious Coffee (Blanshard and Fisgard) 6-8pm

BC Centre for Disease Control is saying:

Hey guys the meningitis outbreak isn't over yet! Gay men in BC are still getting sick. The meningitis bacteria is spread through saliva, especially when sharing joints. You can also get it by sharing smokes, drinks, water bottles and by kissing.

The vaccination is safe and effective, but best of all it's free for gay men! So if you haven't been poked already, you probably should soon! Call for an appointment at the Cook Street Health Unit 388-2225.

From GAy.com

Drug use is biggest single cause of HIV transmission in gay men
Gus Cairns
Using recreational drugs such as poppers, cocaine and crystal meth is the biggest single contributory factor to continued HIV transmission between gay men, the 12th Retrovirus Conference was told.

Grant Colfax of the San Francisco Department of Public Health told the conference that using crystal raised the risk of unsafe sex two to three times, and the risk of HIV infection by 60 percent.

Being "bottom" during unprotected anal sex raised the risk of infection by nearly 300 percent. But because taking drugs during sex was more common than getting penetrated bareback, the "attributable fraction" of HIV cases due to drug use (that is, the contribution drug use made to HIV transmission) was 29 percent, beating passive barebacking by 1 percent.

On the surface, Colfax admitted, it was puzzling that using a drug was even more risky than doing what you'd think would be the riskiest thing.

Rare sexually transmitted disease surfaces in Canada
Last Updated Wed, 01 Jun 2005 12:12:46 EDT
CBC News
A potentially fatal sexually transmitted disease that rarely appears in industrialized countries has popped up in Canada, raising fears of an outbreak.

So far, 22 cases of lymphogranuloma venereum have been reported to the country's public health agency, according to an analysis in the May 31 online edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

"Currently in Canada, LGV appears to be primarily occurring among men having sex with men, a high proportion of whom have concurrent HIV infection, other [sexually transmitted diseases] or hepatitis C," the analysis says.

"LGV is an emerging and significant public health concern."

LGV, a type of chlamydia infection, can be transmitted through vaginal, anal or oral sexual contact.

It starts as a small lesion and can progress to painfully swell lymph nodes.

If left untreated, it can lead to deformity of the genitals or rectum, and, in rare cases, even death.

The queer men's spirituality group was a great success. 13 Men came out and shared with us a bit of their personal journey of spirit. The guys were open minded and non-judgemental and fun. We have choosen to make it an ongoing group. Very open to newcomers!

We meet once per month on Thursday 7-9 pm call or email captain for date & location info. 384-2366 captain.snowdon@avi.org