8 medical breakthroughs Canadians should be proud of

Canadians are known for hockey, maple syrup and poutine, but what about their contributions to furthering medicine? Turns out, Canada is responsible for handfuls of medical breakthroughs from Pablum to insulin and child-resistant medicine bottles.

“There are many examples of Canadian physicians who have really been successful in changing the way medicine is being practiced around the world,” Dr. Granger Avery, president of the Canadian Medical Association, said.

“I feel very confident in saying that Canadians have contributed significantly, not just to health here in Canada, but health in the world. We get caught up on the international scene but forget about the incredible contributions Canadians have made,” Lissa Foster, executive director of the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame, told Global News.

Avery and Foster took a walk down memory lane with Global News to look at key medical breakthroughs covered in Canadian fingerprints.

HAART therapy treatment as HIV prevention

Scientists led by Dr. Julio Montaner out of the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS have spent decades studying the disease. There, B.C. has become a global success story in combatting HIV/AIDS and it’s because of HAART, or highly active antiretroviral therapy.

It’s a cocktail of three drugs – taken daily – first implemented in 1996 to stop HIV from progressing into AIDS and to extend life expectancy and reduce HIV-related deaths.

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During the Canada Post strike announced September 25, 2025, the following measures will be undertaken to minimize service disruption to BC-CfE clients and providers.

  • The BC-CfE Laboratory has transitioned to private courier for delivery of outgoing reports and documents. Results required urgently can be faxed upon request. (Lab Contact Information: Phone 604-806-8775; FAX 604-806-9463)
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  • St. Paul’s Hospital Ambulatory Pharmacy has transitioned to private courier for delivery of medications. We recommend requesting medication at least 2 weeks in advance in case of delivery delays, particularly to rural/remote parts of BC. (Contact Information: Phone 1-800-547-3622; FAX 604-806-8675)

During the Canada Post strike, we recommend that documents be faxed or couriered to our sites, versus utilization of regular mail service

The BC-CfE Laboratory is streamlining reporting processes for certain tests in order to simplify distribution and record-keeping, and to ensure completeness of results. Beginning September 2, 2025, results for the ‘Resistance Analysis of HIV-1 Protease and Reverse Transcriptase’ (Protease-RT) and ‘HIV-1 Integrase Resistance Genotype’ tests will be combined into a single ‘HIV-1 Resistance Genotype Report’.
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