The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) is the winner of the 2020 Doctors of BC’s Excellence in Health Promotion Award – Non-Profit category.

Dr. Ian Gillespie, Chair on the Council on Health Promotion, said, “We felt that the BC-CfE’s Treatment as Prevention (TasP) initiative exemplifies Excellence in Health Promotion by advocating for widespread HIV testing and providing access to free HIV treatment for all medically eligible HIV-positive individuals.”

Doctors of BC is a voluntary association of 14,000 physicians, residents and medical students working together to, “promote a social, economic, and political climate in which members can provide British Columbians with the highest standard of health care.”

On the awards, the organization says, “These awards are presented annually by Doctors of BC to recognize and celebrate those who work tirelessly and passionately on meaningful initiatives. They are individuals, non-profit organizations, and corporations in our communities that work to make our province a healthier, safer place to live. They devote time and energy to ensuring vulnerable populations have access to the health care they need, the isolated are engaged in community events, and the young actively participate in health promotion initiatives, among many others.”

Furthermore, “successful nominees must have demonstrated a concern for health and safety through specific actions or initiatives. These actions must show ingenuity and creativity, and have resulted in change with the potential for positive, long-term improvement.”

In its summary of why the BC-CfE was chosen for the award, the Doctors of BC wrote, “A world leader in HIV/AIDS research and prevention, The BC-CfE has a track record of almost three decades spent dedicated to the health and safety of British Columbians. The organization’s globally recognized TasP to End the AIDS Epidemic in BC and Beyond strategy advocates for widespread HIV testing and facilitates access to free medical treatment for thousands of eligible individuals in BC. TasP has exceeded its target goals and seen a dramatic decrease in HIV diagnoses and AIDS morbidity and mortality.”

BC-CfE leadership, some of whom have worked in the field of HIV/AIDS since its very earliest days, stress how the Centre has played a pivotal role in shaping not only BC’s HIV/AIDS control strategy, but the world’s, with its 90-90-90 Target standing out as a shining example.

After publicizing and formally introducing TasP in the Lancet in 2006, the BC-CfE’s 90-90-90 Target was eventually adopted by the United Nations organization responsible for HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS. When originally set, 90-90-90 would have seen 90% of all people living with HIV knowing their HIV status, 90% of all those diagnosed put on sustained antiretroviral therapy (ART), and 90% of all people on ART achieving viral suppression, a state where they cannot transmit HIV, by the year 2020.

While this ambitious goal was unmet in much of the world, it was met here in BC. Dr. Julio Montaner, the BC-CfE’s Executive Director and Physician-in-Chief announced the stunning accomplishment on last year’s World AIDS Day in a joint press conference with BC’s Health Minister Adrian Dix and Providence Health Care’s President and CEO Fiona Dalton.

Thanks to the work of the BC-CfE and the support of its governmental partners, BC not only met its 90-90-90 goals, but surpassed this target resulting in even further reductions in HIV/AIDS related morbidity and mortality as well as HIV transmission.

In 2018, the Centre added publicly funded pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to its TasP strategy, specifically targeting men who have sex with men (MSM) at high risk for HIV infection. Having enrolled about 5,000 high risk MSM clients on PrEP, the number of HIV diagnoses in MSM residing in BC dropped by more than 30%.

As BC endures two ongoing pandemics, COVID-19 and the opioid overdose crisis, the BC-CfE continues to advance HIV/AIDS control through TasP and PrEP as well as expanding services within Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside with its Hope to Health Research and Innovation Centre. This Centre recently secured multi-year funding from Ottawa, BC’s Ministry of Health, Vancouver Coastal Health, and generous philanthropic donors to pursue work focused on HIV, hepatitis C virus, mental health, and addictions.

Doctors of BC bestow their awards on “Any individuals or group, non-profit, or corporation that has demonstrated a concern for health and safety through specific actions and/or initiatives that exemplify creativity and initiative to improve and protect the health and safety of British Columbians, and/or have results bringing about measurable change with the potential for positive, long-term improvement.”

As Dr. Gillespie said, “We consider The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS a very deserving recipient of the award, please accept my congratulations on this exceptional achievement.”