Freddie, Canada’s leading online PrEP & DoxyPEP clinic, and the Toronto People With AIDS Foundation (PWA) are joining forces to expand compassionate, high-quality care for people living with HIV in Canada.
Bringing together public, private, and non-profit expertise, the new collaboration combines the virtual care Freddie is known for with PWA’s trusted in-person support model, delivering fully integrated care for people living with HIV.
The partnership allows patients to access a mix of in-person and virtual HIV services, including treatment and access to medications that help with HIV prevention, and wraparound support. In-person care is available at five different locations across Canada, with clinics in Toronto, Calgary, and Saskatchewan.
A TIMELY PARTNERSHIP
At a time when cases of HIV in Canada are on the rise, the collaboration is timely.
“There are more and more people living with HIV in Canada, and there are many expert clinicians in that area, but honestly, probably not enough for the number of people living in Canada,” Freddie’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Caley Shukalek, told Now Toronto.
Canada saw more than 2,400 new HIV diagnoses in 2023, reflecting a 35.2-per cent increase compared to 2022.
Providing service to more than 40,000 patients since its inception in July of 2020, the organization says it has prevented more than 850 cases of HIV in both Canada and the U.S.
Shukalek explained that through Freddie’s delivery model, in many cases, they can provide services for uninsured people looking for care.
“Which is really opening doors for people with uncertain immigration status, or without insurance of any kind,” Shukalek said. “PWA is able to help those people obtain insurance, whether that’s through the province [or] through commercial means, but we’re able to help with the clinical care in the interim.”
“It’s opening doors for all people living with HIV, but in particular, it is opening doors for those people who need to access care without spending a significant amount of money.”
The partnership with PWA, which first opened its doors in 1987 and has become the city’s largest direct support service agency for people living with HIV, offers an important expansion of services.
“Being partnered with PWA really expands the breadth of services that Freddie can offer, and Freddie is expanding the breadth of services PWA can offer,” Shukalek explained.
“So, it’s a very useful partnership to provide more holistic services, clinical and non-clinical, to people living with HIV.”Find out more about Freddie’s services here.
