B.C. government funds $48-million Seek and Treat program

The Government of B.C. and the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) made history at St. Paul’s Hospital on the morning of February 4, 2010. 

In the hospital’s expansive New Lecture Theatre, B.C. Health Services Minister, Kevin Falcon, stepped up to the podium in front of staff members, persons living with HIV, media, BC-CfE partners and government officials, and pledged $48 million for a life-saving pilot program that has been more than five years in the making. 

The pilot, called Seek and Treat, will be implemented in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and Prince George and is the first of its kind in Canada and internationally. Over four years, it will expand access to HIV and AIDS medications among hard-to-reach populations, including sex trade workers, injection drug users and men who have sex with men. 

The Seek and Treat program will enable health care workers to reach out to more British Columbians living with HIV and to engage those individuals who are medically eligible to gain access to medications to stop HIV’s progression to AIDS. Meanwhile, with more people suffering from HIV enrolled in effective HAART treatment, the virus’ ability to spread to others in the community will be significantly reduced or even eliminated. 

“Seek and Treat promises to decrease HIV and AIDS-related suffering and further prevent the spread of HIV,” said Falcon, to appreciative applause from those celebrating this milestone in the battle to defeat HIV and AIDS. 

“British Columbia continues to be a recognized global leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS with this groundbreaking approach thanks to the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS at St. Paul’s Hospital, under the leadership of Dr. Julio Montaner,” Falcon added.