The BC-CfE regularly produces a fact sheet as part of the HIV Pulse series in order to provide comprehensive and concise updates on HIV/AIDS-related findings to public health and health care professionals. The focus of the fact sheet series is Treatment as Prevention¨ and its implementation in the province of British Columbia.
The new HIV Pulse gives an overview of the measurements provided by the BC HIV Cascade of Care. Using data from the STOPProvincial Quarterly Monitoring Reports (from October 2013 to December 2015), the latest issue reports on findings from the HIV Cascade of Care in British Columbia highlighting losses at each stage of the care continuum and stages where intervention planning can decrease the burden of HIV.
Key findings:
- There are 10,000 individuals diagnosed with HIV in BC; most being male (82%), over 50 years of age (55%) and living in the Lower Mainland region (68%).
- The largest gap exists at the “Achieving a suppressed viral load” stage, with 56% of diagnosed individuals having undetectable levels of HIV through treatment (as compared with 71% of diagnosed individuals with HIV are currently on treatment).
- 92% of diagnosed individuals with HIV have been linked to care, 71% are currently on treatment, and 56% have undetectable levels of HIV through treatment.
- There is an 8% loss going from diagnosis to linkage, a 22% loss going from linkage to treatment, and a 22% loss going from treatment to suppressed viral load.
- Some of the populations most affected by HIV in BC are men who have sex with men (MSM), women, youth (under age 30), and people who inject drugs.
The fact sheet also provides information on discrepancies in the Cascade of Care along regional lines (by Health Authority), as well as by gender and age category. Additionally, data is provided for persons who inject drugs (PWID) and MSM.
Please download the fact sheet for more information. For more data related to the Cascade of Care, please see the STOP HIV/AIDS¨ Quarterly reports available at https://stophivaids.ca.