Vancouver, B.C. – March 12, 2012 – On Friday, March 16, 2012, the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) will mark 20 years of groundbreaking research and advancement in the fight to end HIV and AIDS, and pay tribute to its partners in BC and around the world.
Media are invited to join the BC-CfE, its staff, community partners, special guests and director, Dr. Julio Montaner, for this milestone anniversary event.
The event will include a one-hour program that will remember the victims of HIV and AIDS; highlight the work of the BC-CfE and its healthcare, government and academic partners; and include speakers such as Austrian Ambassador to Canada Werner Brandstetter; Prof. Stephen Toope, President and Vice-Chancellor of UBC; and Providence Health Care CEO Dianne Doyle.
What: The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS 20th Anniversary Event
Where: Sutton Place Hotel (845 Burrard St), Versailles Room
When: Friday, March 16, 2012
6:30pm – 7:30pm
Media planning to attend the event are asked to contact Mahafrine Petigara via email (email address below) on or prior to Thursday, March 15. Interviews with Dr. Montaner, Prof. Toope and Ambassador Brandstetter will also be available by appointment prior to the event.
For additional information or to request a media interview, please contact:
Mahafrine Petigara
Edelman (for BC-CfE)
604-623-3007 ext. 297
mahafrine.petigara@edelman.com
About the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS is dedicated to improving the health of British Columbians with HIV through the development, ongoing monitoring and dissemination of comprehensive research and treatment programs for HIV and related diseases. The BC-CfE is a key provincial resource, serving all health authorities, regions, and citizens of B.C.
The BC-CfE places the disease under the microscope, provides care and treatment to those infected, educates doctors and healthcare professionals throughout the province, and promotes evidence-based social policy that helps protect people from acquiring the virus.
About Providence Health Care
Providence Health Care is one of Canada’s largest faith-based health care organizations, operating 16 facilities within Vancouver Coastal Health. Guided by the principle”How you want to be treated,” PHC’s 1,200 physicians, 6,000 staff and 1,500 volunteers deliver compassionate care to patients and residents in British Columbia. Providence’s programs and services span the complete continuum of care and serve people throughout B.C. PHC operates one of two adult academic health science centres in the province, performs cutting-edge research in more than 30 clinical specialties, and focuses its services on six”populations of emphasis”: cardiopulmonary risks and illnesses, HIV/AIDS, mental health, renal risks and illness, specialized needs in aging and urban health.
About the University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is one of North America’s largest public research and teaching institutions, and one of only two Canadian institutions consistently ranked among the world’s 40 best universities. Surrounded by the beauty of the Canadian West, it is a place that inspires bold, new ways of thinking that have helped make it a national leader in areas as diverse as community service learning, sustainability and research commercialization. UBC offers more than 55,000 students a range of innovative programs and attracts $550 million per year in research funding from government, non-profit organizations and industry through more than 7,000 grants.