Dr. Julio Montaner holds discussions with senior Vatican officials regarding Treatment as Prevention

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Catholic Church a strong contributor to the fight against HIV and AIDS around the world

Director of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE), Dr. Julio Montaner, was met with a substantial level of interest as he brought to the Vatican examples of achievements in British Columbia through Treatment as Prevention (TasP). “It’s not often that you get a thumbs up from His Holiness Pope Francis,” said Dr. Montaner. The concept of TasP was pioneered at the BC-CfE, led by Dr. Montaner. Its implementation in BC, with the strong support of the provincial government, has resulted in dramatically reduced HIV morbidity and mortality, as well as a steep decline in new HIV cases.

“It is very promising the Roman Catholic Church is expressing interest in Treatment as Prevention,” Dr. Montaner said. “The Church, with all its infrastructure and outreach, would be a fantastic partner to help expand TasP globally.”

The Catholic Church has previously expressed the need to treat those affected by HIV and AIDS with compassion and dignity. Through its global service and St. Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver, B.C. charity arm, Caritas Internationalis, the church aims to provide access to antiretrovirals to those living with HIV worldwide currently not reached by treatment. The Vatican estimates Catholic Church-related organizations provide approximately one quarter of all HIV treatment, care and support throughout the world, particularly in resource limited settings where HIV rates are increasing.

On his visit in early March, Dr. Montaner met with a number of senior Vatican officials, including Ghanian Cardinal Peter Turkson, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, and his colleague Fr. Michael F. Czerny; and Msgr. Father Jean-Marie Mate Musivi Mupendawatu, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers, and his colleague Sister Juliana Resende; as well as Msgr. Guillermo Karcher of the Vatican State Secretariat.

Some statistics about the global HIV epidemic:

  • There are currently around 35 million people living with HIV worldwide, but approximately 19 million are unaware of their status. (UNAIDS)
  • Sustained treatment on antiretroviral therapy reduces HIV transmission by greater than 95 per cent.
  • The percentage of people living with HIV who were receiving antiretroviral treatment around the world is highest in North America and Western Europe at 51 [39–60] per cent, and in Latin America at 45 [33–51] per cent. In the Middle East and North Africa, coverage is 11 [8–16] per cent. (UNAIDS)
  • Through the Treatment as Prevention strategy, British Columbia is the only Canadian province to fully provide access to antiretroviral treatment, immediately upon diagnosis, and the only one to see a consistent decline in new HIV cases.
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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

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