Welcome to the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS online media guide.

This guide serves as a source of information on the breadth of work and recent findings at the BC-CfE in addressing HIV and AIDS in British Columbia, barriers to access to HIV treatment and adherence to treatment, drug resistance, populations vulnerable to HIV, addiction, harm reduction, gender and sexual health, and other related issues.

The latest press releases, media advisories and news announcements are available here. There is a rubric of the BC-CfE’s programs, with brief descriptions and links to related websites and social media.

About the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS

The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) is Canada’s largest HIV/AIDS research, treatment and education facility and is internationally recognized as an innovative world leader in combating HIV/AIDS and related diseases. BC-CfE is based at St. Paul’s Hospital, Providence Health Care, a teaching hospital of the University of British Columbia. The BC-CfE works in close collaboration with key provincial stakeholders, including the B.C. Government, health authorities, health care providers, academics from other institutions, and the community to decrease the health burden of HIV and AIDS. The keystone of the BC-CfE’s strategies is Treatment as Prevention (TasP), the made-in-B.C strategy pioneered by Dr. Julio Montaner uses testing and treatment to drastically reduce the spread of HIV infection. By developing, monitoring and disseminating comprehensive research and treatment programs for HIV and related illnesses, the BC-CfE helps improve the health of British Columbians.
About Treatment as Prevention

The concept of Treatment as Prevention was first introduced by BC-CfE Director Dr. Julio Montaner at the International AIDS Society Conference in Vancouver in 2006. In the early 90s, Dr. Montaner led the development of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), which is now the international gold standard in HIV treatment. The made-in-B.C. Treatment as Prevention® consists of widespread HIV testing and the immediate and full offer of HAART to those who test positive and those who are medically eligible. This treatment has been shown to greatly improve a patient’s quality of life and extend longevity by decades, while drastically reducing the likelihood of transmission. Once an individual is on HAART, their viral load decreases. On sustained treatment and care, an individual can reach a virtually undetectable level of viral load in blood and sexual fluids.

The expansion of HIV testing and early treatment in B.C. with HAART under the Treatment as Prevention strategy is linked to a number of positive outcomes. These include sustained and profound population-level decreases in morbidity, mortality and HIV transmission.
STOP HIV/AIDS

STOP HIV/AIDS began as a pilot project to expand HIV testing, treatment, and support services to medically eligible individuals in British Columbia. As of April 1, 2013, STOP HIV/AIDS was expanded to include all British Columbians. As part of the BC Centre for Excellence (BC-CfE) in HIV/AIDS’s mandate to evaluate the outcomes of STOP HIV/AIDS programming in BC, the BC-CfE has developed ongoing quarterly HIV/AIDS monitoring reports. These reports provide up-to-date data on a variety of key HIV-related surveillance and treatment indicators in the province of B.C. There are reports for each provincial health authority and for BC as a whole.

Click here to view the STOP HIV/AIDS Monitoring Reports

For more information, see STOP HIV/AIDS (http://stophivaids.ca/)
BC-CfE Website and Social Media Channels
- Website
  
  The BC-CfE website provides information for health authorities, health care providers, students, academics, policymakers, stakeholders, clinicians, and researchers. The website provides access to the latest findings and publications authored by BC-CfE research published in academic journals, upcoming events and conferences, and news. Health care providers can easily access the latest therapeutic guidelines, information on the drug treatment program and HIV drug safety, and links to health care resources.
- Social Media
- Other BC-CfE Websites
Studies and programs
The full list of initiatives is available on the main website page:
- Epidemiology & Population Health
  The Epidemiology and Population Health Program monitors the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in British Columbia. Research from the program focuses on how antiretroviral therapy affects the health and well being of people living with HIV.
  Read More...
  - At Home At Howe study
    
    In September 2013, McLaren Housing Society of BC opened the doors to the Howe street residence, a 12 storey 110-unit housing complex, making it the largest HIV residential building in Canada. The units provide permanent housing to individuals and families who are either homeless or at-risk of homelessness and whose primary health issue is HIV/AIDS.
    Read More...
  - CANOC
    
    The Canadian Observational Cohort Collaboration (CANOC) is an integrated network of all registered treatment information from eight cohort databases across British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec.
    Read More...
  - CHIWOS
    
    The Canadian HIV Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health Cohort Study, or CHIWOS, is a community-based research study that seeks to understand whether and how women-centred care may improve health outcomes for women living with HIV in Canada.
    Read More...
  - COAST
    
    The Comparison of Outcomes And Service Utilization Trends (COAST) study is a population-based retrospective study that examines the health outcomes and health service use of HIV-positive men and women, including both those who are accessing and not accessing antiretroviral therapy, as compared to a random one percent sample of the total population of British Columbia (BC).
    Read More...
  - Engage Study
    
    The Engage Study aims to find out more about people’s decisions and attitudes toward beginning highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).
    Read More...
  - HOMER
    
    It is an integrated network of all registered treatment information from eight cohort databases across British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec.
    Read More...
  - IMPACT-HIV
    
    Interdisciplinary Modelling for the Prevention, Care and Treatment of HIV (IMPACT-HIV) is a collaboration of HIV researchers of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV and AIDS and mathematicians of the Complex Systems Modeling Group (CSMG) at the IRMACS Centre of Simon Fraser University.
    Read More...
  - LISA
    
    The Longitudinal Investigation into Supportive and Ancillary Health Services (LISA) project is a three-year initiative of the BC-CfE funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).
    Read More...
  - ManCount
    
    In 2008, ManCount hit the streets of Vancouver to measure rates of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections affecting gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (MSM).
    Read More...
  - Momentum
    
    The Momentum Health Study is a new sexual health study of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men in Greater Vancouver.
    Read More...
  - SHAPE
    
    The STOP HIV/AIDS Program Evaluation (SHAPE) Study aims to find out more about what factors influence people’s decisions and attitudes toward accessing HIV health care and what factors help people to stay in care.
    Read More...
  - The Dr. Peter Centre
    
    The Dr. Peter Study is a joint initiative led by the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and the Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation, and brings together a team of academics, people living with HIV, policy makers, health care decision makers and program managers from across Canada. This is a 3-year mixed-methods evaluation funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research Partnerships in Health System Improvement program and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research.
    Read More...
- Incentives
  
  Incentives is a study by the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS called "A randomized clinical trial evaluating the role of contingent reinforcement in the engagement and retention of Drug Users in HAART programs – STOP HIV – Phase 2 ('Treat')."
  Read More...
- International Program
  
  The BC-CfE's International Program engages in a number of research and capacity building activities outside of Canada, with a particular focus on low- and middle-income countries with significant HIV epidemics.
  Read More...
- Laboratory Program
  
  The Laboratory Program is both a research endeavor and clinical service, conducting research in molecular genetics for the benefit of patients infected with HIV.
  Read More...
Resources
More resources to come…

BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS

Search form

At Home At Howe study

CANOC

CHIWOS

COAST

Engage Study

HOMER

IMPACT-HIV

LISA

ManCount

Momentum

SHAPE

The Dr. Peter Centre

Search form