About 10 new HIV infections a year in northern B.C.

Although Northern Health’s overall trend in newly identified HIV diagnoses has been declining since it peaked in 2004, there are still about 10 newly identified cases every year in the region.

Between 2010 and 2014, there were 76 new cases of HIV infections in the Northern Health region. Since 2014, there have been 33 new HIV infections identified to date.

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The HIV/AIDS epidemic has evolved differently in northern B.C. than it has in the rest of the province, according to the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS. While men who have sex with men are the main source of new HIV infections in B.C., the primary route of transmission in northern B.C. is injection drug use.

Heterosexual transmission, on the other hand, accounted for 39 per cent of infections in northern B.C. compared to 25 per cent provincially in 2015.

Types of testing available in the Burns Lake area

Fears of provider’s judgment and breeches in confidentiality are obstacles to obtaining HIV care for many people.

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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)
  • The BC-CfE Drug Treatment Program (DTP) will fax outgoing forms and documents to the provider’s office. (DTP Contact Information: Phone 604-806-8515; FAX 604-806-9044)
  • 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’.
For more details and example reports, please click on the button below

Laboratory Order Forms

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