Six months after the B.C. government expanded funding for HIV/AIDS prevention drugs, provincial officials and health care workers are celebrating a wide uptake of the prevention regimens.
In the first half of the year, more than 2,000 people were prescribed the potentially life-saving medications at no out-of-pocket cost.
“We’re trying to set an example for the rest of the country and the rest of the world in terms of how to roll out these programs in a cost-effective manner,” Dr. Julio Montaner, the director of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, told reporters Tuesday.
In January 2018, the province expanded coverage for pre-exposure prophylaxis, known as PrEP. It’s a medication taken every day that’s effective at preventing HIV infection in people who are exposed to the virus.
The once-expensive drug cocktail is now free for men and trans women who have sex with men, injecting drug users and anyone whose partner is HIV-positive.
The government also expanded coverage for post-exposure prophylaxis, or PEP. That’s a medication taken soon after unforeseen exposure to the HIV/AIDS virus to prevent infection.
PEP is now available to sexual assault victims free of charge.