Vancouver, B.C. [November 1, 2012]: Dr. Julio Montaner, director of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE), a program at Providence Health Care, has been awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
Awarded by the Governor General of Canada through one of its partner organizations, the Canadian AIDS Society, the Medal recognizes exemplary work and service in the field of HIV/AIDS in Canada.
“It is a privilege for the Canadian AIDS Society to present a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for excellence in HIV/AIDS to Dr. Montaner,” says Albert McNutt, Chair of the Canadian AIDS Society Board of Directors.”The Medal serves as recognition for his outstanding commitment and contributions to end the epidemic and to improve the lives of people living with and affected by HIV, both in Canada and internationally. We congratulate him on this very special honour.”
The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal has been awarded to 30 members of the HIV community, who are among the 60,000 outstanding Canadians selected to receive this distinction in recognition of the 60th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II to the Throne. The Canadian AIDS Society was identified to nominate candidates from the field of HIV/AIDS. Dr. Montaner, who is the head of the Division of AIDS in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia (UBC), expressed his gratitude at receiving the honour.
“I am very thankful to the Governor General of Canada and the Canadian AIDS Society for conferring on me such special recognition,” said Dr. Montaner.”I share this recognition with my colleagues at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, whose courageous work continues to help create and refine new approaches to HIV and AIDS treatment, the government of British Columbia, St. Paul’s Hospital and the University of British Columbia. None of our successes in fighting HIV and AIDS would have been possible without their support and commitment to improve people’s lives and shape better public health policies through scientific research.”
Over the years, Dr. Montaner has led key advancements in the treatment and prevention of HIV and AIDS. He pioneered the efficacy of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and developed the ground-breaking HIV Treatment as Prevention strategy. This strategy involves widespread HIV testing and provision of HAART to medically eligible people with HIV. The BC-CfE has demonstrated the significant benefits of early HAART treatment: it reduces the level of HIV in the blood to undetectable levels, improving the health of people with HIV, and it decreases the level of HIV in sexual fluids to undetectable levels, reducing the likelihood of HIV transmission by more than 95 per cent.
By implementing Treatment as Prevention, B.C. is the only Canadian province to demonstrate a consistent decline in new cases of HIV. In B.C., the Seek and Treat for Optimal Prevention of HIV/AIDS (STOP HIV/AIDS¨) pilot project is a component of BC-CfE’s HIV Treatment as Prevention strategy. In 2010, the B.C. government invested $48 million over four years in the BC-CfE-led STOP HIV/AIDS¨ pilot to expand HIV testing and treatment in Vancouver’s inner city and Prince George.
The presentation of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medals is being coordinated by the Canadian AIDS Society. For more information on the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medals, please visit: www.gg.ca/diamondjubilee
About the British Columbia 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 health authorities, health care providers, academics from other institutions, and the community to decrease the health burden of HIV and AIDS and to improve the health of British Columbians living with HIV through developing, monitoring and disseminating comprehensive research and treatment programs for HIV and related illnesses.
For additional information, please contact:
Kevin Hollett
BC-CfE
604-682-2344 ext 66536
khollett@bccfe.ca