The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) is an innovative treatment and research centre, with the goal, as mandated by the Ministry of Health, of improving the health of people living with HIV/AIDS and those at risk of acquiring HIV, by advancing and promoting the most effective programs for treatment and prevention of HIV, and related conditions. One of the foundational programs of the BC-CfE, the Drug Treatment Program is funded by the provincial government (PharmaCare) and distributes antiretroviral medications at no cost to all medically eligible persons living with HIV (PLWH) and persons at high risk of HIV acquisition living in BC, based on guidelines generated by the Committee for Drug Evaluation and Therapy (CDET). The Program also provides select medications for specific indicator diseases of HIV, and conditions affecting PLWH and those at risk of acquiring HIV. Established in 1992, the DTP provides thousands of patients with access to life-saving drugs.

Information from participants is entered into a secure database, providing data for clinical and virologic outcome evaluations of persons receiving antiretroviral therapy. The database acts as a registry of HIV-treating physicians in the province, as well as an “early warning system” to alert government about the trajectory of the disease.