A Profile in HIV Outreach – Vancouver Island Health

A series of posts this month looks at the contributions provided by teams and team members working across the province to achieve the goals of the STOP HIV/AIDS¨ program. Based on the concept of Treatment as Prevention¨, pioneered by BC-CfE Director Dr. Julio Montaner, the STOP HIV/AIDS¨ program has been implemented in BC with support from the provincial government.

Island Health launched the STOP HIV/AIDS¨ Program in April 2013 and it isfocused on three priority areasfor action:

Â¥ Prevention and harm reduction: including safer sex and safer injecting practices.

Â¥ HIV testing: reaching as many people as possible through testing, including key populations.

Â¥ Engaging and retaining people in treatment and care.

Island Health aims to reduce the spread of HIV through improved prevention services, to diagnose individuals as early as possible after they have been infected through broad-based and targeted testing, and to provide improved treatment and care services to help those who are HIV positive live long and healthy lives.

Island Health Outreach Worker Nancy Antoine said: “Meet people where they are at one day at a time, one person at a time, and one problem at a time. That is the key to successfully building a relationship within a community.”

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During the Canada Post strike announced September 25, 2025, the following measures will be undertaken to minimize service disruption to BC-CfE clients and providers.

  • The BC-CfE Laboratory has transitioned to private courier for delivery of outgoing reports and documents. Results required urgently can be faxed upon request. (Lab Contact Information: Phone 604-806-8775; FAX 604-806-9463)
  • The BC-CfE Drug Treatment Program (DTP) will fax outgoing forms and documents to the provider’s office. (DTP Contact Information: Phone 604-806-8515; FAX 604-806-9044)
  • St. Paul’s Hospital Ambulatory Pharmacy has transitioned to private courier for delivery of medications. We recommend requesting medication at least 2 weeks in advance in case of delivery delays, particularly to rural/remote parts of BC. (Contact Information: Phone 1-800-547-3622; FAX 604-806-8675)

During the Canada Post strike, we recommend that documents be faxed or couriered to our sites, versus utilization of regular mail service

The BC-CfE Laboratory is streamlining reporting processes for certain tests in order to simplify distribution and record-keeping, and to ensure completeness of results. Beginning September 2, 2025, results for the ‘Resistance Analysis of HIV-1 Protease and Reverse Transcriptase’ (Protease-RT) and ‘HIV-1 Integrase Resistance Genotype’ tests will be combined into a single ‘HIV-1 Resistance Genotype Report’.
For more details and example reports, please click on the button below