A new in-person clinic in downtown Toronto aims to help people living with HIV for free
In 2014, when he came to Canada from Venezuela as a refugee, Oberto struggled to find services that would provide him with care without insurance. At one point, he had to take a break from his HIV medication due to the cost.
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Toronto Star
9 hours ago
- Toronto Star
A new in-person clinic in downtown Toronto aims to help people living with HIV for free
Ower Oberto knows first hand the challenges of navigating Canada's health-care system as a newcomer living with HIV. In 2014, when he came to Canada from Venezuela as a refugee, Oberto struggled to find services that would provide him with care without insurance. At one point, he had to take a break from his HIV medication due to the cost.
Cision Canada
4 days ago
- Cision Canada
IMG Announces Ninth Annual 'Leave Your Mark' Grant Opportunity
INDIANAPOLIS, Aug. 4, 2025 /CNW/ -- IMG (International Medical Group), an award-winning global insurance benefits and assistance services company, is excited to be accepting applications for its annual Leave Your Mark Grant. In its ninth year, the Leave Your Mark initiative is designed to invest in causes addressed by mission and social good organizations around the world. Grant applications will be accepted August 1 through September 12, 2025. IMG will be granting funds to five winners — two mission or social good organizations and three individuals participating in a mission, volunteer, or service trip. The two winning organizations will receive $3,500 each, and the three winning individuals will receive $1,000 each. To apply for IMG's Leave Your Mark Grant, applicants are asked to submit a 500-word essay or 3-minute video that describes why their mission or service trip is important, how they're working to overcome current obstacles facing the world, and how this grant will help support their global outreach efforts. "Each year, we are inspired by the incredible work being done by the individuals and organizations that apply for the Leave Your Mark Grant," said Justin Poehler, IMG Chief Commercial Officer. "This grant opportunity allows us to support those who are making a tangible difference in communities around the world, and we're proud to continue this tradition for the ninth year." Mission of Hope, a 2024 winning organization of the Leave Your Mark Grant, used the funds to support their nutrition program in Haiti and provided meals to 350 children for an entire year. GAIA Vaccine Foundation, the second 2024 winning organization, used the funds to provide free HIV testing to more than 1,000 expectant mothers in West Africa. The 2024 individual winners used their funds to support several initiatives including farming education in Kenya, religious mission work along the Amazon River, and care for orphaned children with disabilities in Ukraine. To apply for this year's Leave Your Mark Grant, visit The deadline for all applications is September 12, 2025, and winners will be announced October 16, 2025. About IMG® (International Medical Group®) IMG® (International Medical Group®), a SiriusPoint company, is an award-winning global insurance benefits and assistance services company that has served millions of members worldwide since its founding in 1990. The preeminent provider of travel and health safety solutions, IMG offers a wide range of insurance programs, including international private medical insurance, travel medical insurance, and travel insurance, as well as enterprise services, including insurance administrative services and 24/7 emergency medical, security, and travel assistance. IMG's world-class services, combined with an extensive product portfolio, provide Global Peace of Mind® for travelers, students, missionaries, marine crews, and other individuals or groups traveling, working, or living away from home. For more information, please visit
01-08-2025
Trump administration to burn $13M worth of female contraceptives, despite NGO's offer to take them
The U.S. State Department plans to incinerate roughly $13.2 million worth of women's contraceptives despite offers from multiple aid agencies to distribute the supplies at no cost. The supplies, which include various forms of birth control, were intended for family planning programs in low-income African nations. Instead, they've been sitting in a warehouse in Belgium for months after President Donald Trump's administration froze most foreign aid in January. MSI Reproductive Choices, a U.K.-based global reproductive health organization, says it offered to take the supplies and distribute them to those in need at no cost to the government, but their offer was rebuked. To me that sends a really clear signal that this is an ideological position, Sarah Shaw, MSI's director of advocacy, told As It Happens guest host Paul Hunter. This is just another front on the war on women that we're currently seeing coming out of the U.S., both domestically and internationally. Shaw says MSI was told through an intermediary that the government wants to sell the products at market value, which the charity could not afford to do. The United Nations' sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA, offered to buy the contraceptives outright, also to no avail, according to Reuters (new window) . The U.S. State Department did not respond to questions from CBC. But spokesperson Tommy Pigott told reporters on Thursday the government is still in the process of determining the pathway forward. Belgium calls it a 'regrettable outcome' The supplies, valued at $9.7 million US, once belonged to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which the Trump administration has shut down. (new window) During a press briefing on Thursday (new window) , Pigott said the supplies do not include condoms or HIV medication, but rather select products purchased under the previous administration that could potentially be abortifacients, meaning products that induce abortion. But aid agencies and media organizations say the supplies slated for destruction are designed to prevent unwanted pregnancies, not terminate them. Reuters, citing seven confidential sources close to the story, reports the warehouse contains contraceptive pills and implants, as well as intrauterine devices, all of which are forms of birth control. Enlarge image (new window) Former U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) administrator Samantha Power hugs a person after laid-off USAID workers cleared out their desks and collected personal belongings in Washington, D.C., in February. Photo: Reuters / Nathan Howard Pigott said the products could be in contravention of the Kemp-Kasten amendment, which prevents the government from supporting programs that engage in coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization, as well as the Mexico City policy, a pact that prohibits the U.S. government from contributing to or working with organizations that provide abortion-related services or information. The latter could explain why the U.S. declined MSI's offer, says Shaw. Her organization refuses to comply with the Mexico City policy, which she and other aid organizations refer to as the global gag order. But it doesn't explain why they've rejected similar overtures from others trying to prevent the contraceptives from going to waste at taxpayer expense, she said. The Belgian foreign ministry said Brussels had held talks with U.S. authorities and explored all possible options to prevent the destruction, including temporary relocation. Despite these efforts, and with full respect for our partners, no viable alternative could be secured. Nevertheless, Belgium continues to actively seek solutions to avoid this regrettable outcome, it said in a statement. Sexual and reproductive health must not be subject to ideological constraints. Uproar in France The State Department previously confirmed it will spend $167,000 US ($228,000 Cdn) to incinerate the contraceptives at a facility in France that handles medical waste. That news is not sitting well in France, where lawmakers, reproductive health organizations and feminist groups are calling on the government to call it off. We are following this situation closely and we support the will of the Belgian authorities to find a solution to avoid the destruction of contraceptives, France's foreign ministry said in a statement published by the Guardian (new window) The defence of sexual health and reproductive rights is a foreign policy priority for France. WATCH | Global health funding in a state of crisis: Shaw says she's grateful to the people in France who are championing this cause. Even if we can't stop the destruction we're not going to let this go quietly, she said. If this happens on French soil under a government that has a feminist foreign policy, I think that would be a great shame, a great shame. Doctors Without Borders calls plan 'reckless and harmful' Avril Benoît, the CEO of Doctors Without Borders in the U.S., called the plan a reckless and harmful act against women and girls everywhere. Contraceptives are essential and lifesaving health products, she said in a press release (new window) . [Our organization] has seen first-hand the positive health benefits when women and girls can freely make their own health decisions by choosing to prevent or delay pregnancy — and the dangerous consequences when they cannot. Shaw agrees. She says the U.S. has made a big deal about finding government efficiencies as it slashes global aid and its own civil service. But every dollar spent on reproductive health, she says, leads to much greater savings down the road. It makes no sense to me. If they really want efficiency, investing in family planning is the best investment you can make for development, she said. "You keep girls in schools. You break generational cycles of poverty. You create opportunity for a new generation of young women. It's a no-brainer. So it was a completely political act, and African women are going to pay the price for this. With files from Reuters. Interview with Sarah Shaw produced by Chris Harbord
