The Cedar Project: Responding to the Triple Health Emergencies of COVID-19, Overdose, and Anti-Indigenous Racism among young Indigenous people in BC

BC is in the midst of triple health emergencies of overdose crisis, the COVID pandemic, and anti-Indigenous racism in the health system. Since 2003, the Cedar Project has examined connections between impacts of colonization and intergenerational trauma on HIV and HCV among young Indigenous people who use drugs in Vancouver and Prince George, BC. For 17 years, Cedar has been led by Indigenous and allied investigators, and governed by the Cedar Project Partnership, an independent body of Indigenous Elders, leaders, and health/wellness experts. This presentation addresses the current context of Cedar Participants’ health and wellbeing in the context of triple public health emergencies, drawing on Cedar's longitudinal epidemiological data, current Cedar initiatives responding to COVID-19, and the recent In Plain Sight report.