Adapting HIV Care and Prevention Strategies for People Experiencing Homelessness

Since 2012, new cases of HIV infection in San Francisco have decreased by more than 50%. Moreover, almost three-fourths of people living with HIV in San Francisco are virally suppressed. Despite these gains, sizable disparities exist for people experiencing homelessness, who make up 1% of the city’s population, yet accounted for 14% of new HIV diagnoses in 2017.
People experiencing homelessness in San Francisco also have a lower rate of viral suppression compared to the city average at 32%. In 2016-2017, enhanced mortality surveillance of 50 people without stable housing revealed that 68% of HIV-associated deaths occurred among people who experienced homelessness, used substances, and/or had mental health diagnoses.
Previous studies have focused on the broad success of HIV prevention and control in San Francisco, but in an oral abstract presented at the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care Conference (ANAC 2019) a team of investigators provided examples of clinic-based, community-delivered, and public health-level HIV care models recently implemented in San Francisco, focusing on their impact for people experiencing homelessness.

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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

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