HIV rate in B.C. expected to hit record low in 2019

published on December 1, 2019 by Lisa Johnson, in CBC

'The strategy that we pioneered in B.C. ... has been extremely successful,' says Dr. Julio Montaner

The annual number of new HIV cases diagnosed in B.C. is expected to hit a new record low this year, in more than two decades of record-keeping, said HIV/AIDS research pioneer Dr. Julio Montaner.

The lowest number to date was 2017, when 182 people in B.C. were newly diagnosed with HIV. Last year it was slightly up, at 199 people — but still a far cry from the epidemic's peak in the 1990s, when in 1996 more than 700 people were diagnosed in the province.

Sunday, on World AIDS Day, Montaner says 2019 is expected to be even lower.

"The strategy that we pioneered in B.C., of Treatment as Prevention ... has been extremely successful," said Montaner, executive director and physician-in-chief for the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS.

In a release, Health Minister Adrian Dix said that strategy has become the "world's gold standard to profoundly reduce HIV transmission, and transition the crisis from a serious epidemic to a manageable chronic disease."

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© Copyright BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
St. Paul's Hospital 608–1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6Z 1Y6
Tel: 604-806-8477 | Fax: 604-806-9044
General inquiries: info@bccfe.ca
Media inquiries: communications@bccfe.ca
(Please do not use any of these email addresses to send personal information or book an appointment. To book appointments or contact the H2H clinic, please call 604-416-1517 or fax: 604-564-4893. Do not send your or your client's personal information via email.)

Our work serves clients and communities across British Columbia on lands and waters cared for and nurtured by the many distinct First Nations across the province. The BC-CfE humbly and gratefully acknowledge the stewards of these lands, particularly the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh) on whose unceded, traditional and ancestral territories our offices are located.