Fernando

In Vancouver in 1986, a small but dedicated group came together and walked to honour loved ones, friends and family lost to the deadly HIV epidemic-launching the Vancouver AIDS WALK. Fast forward 32 years and this year’s annual walk is coming up on September 23rd, organized by the Positive Living Society of BC.

Today is HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day, a day to honour individuals who are aging with HIV. While most British Columbians were busy saving for retirement, people living with HIV in the 1980s and early 1990s had limited treatment options. They were being advised to dispose of all assets and get their affairs in order. Some survived the development of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) towards the late 1990s and lived on, perhaps left with few financial resources.

We chatted with Positive Living BC’s Director of Development Jason Hjalmarson on why this historic annual event-alongside the continued work of his organization in supporting and empowering people with HIV-still matters today.

This year, MSFHR is delighted to co-fund three Reach awards in partnership with the BC-CfE. Based at Simon Fraser University, University of Victoria and University of British Columbia’s Stigma & Resilience Among Vulnerable Youth Centre, these awards are focused on supporting sexual health in women living with HIV and LGBTQ youth, and helping people living with HIV navigate the housing system in BC.

Through its Per-SVR study (pronounced “persevere”) the BC-CfE is conducting important research todetermine thresholds of prevention methods, such as harm reduction and safer sexual practices, to prevent hepatitis C reinfection among key populations. Per-SVR is a multi-year study observing people who have been successfully treated for hepatitis C virus (HCV) with direct acting antiretrovirals (DAAs).

Treatment as Prevention¨, pioneered by Director of the BC-CfE Dr. Julio Montaner, forms the foundation for an international movement to establish that undetectable equals untransmittable.

The ‘gateway’ drug theory is a commonly known concept that psychoactive drugs, such as marijuana, can lead to further drug use and to the use of substances that may be more illicit, addictive or harmful. Two studies from the Momentum Health Study indicate that this theory may not paint the whole picture and other factors, such as identity and employment, can determine drug use patterns.