B.C. celebrates wide uptake of HIV prevention drugs 6 months after public funding

Six months after the B.C. government expanded funding for HIV/AIDS prevention drugs, provincial officials and health care workers are celebrating a wide uptake of the prevention regimens.

In the first half of the year, more than 2,000 people were prescribed the potentially life-saving medications at no out-of-pocket cost.

“We’re trying to set an example for the rest of the country and the rest of the world in terms of how to roll out these programs in a cost-effective manner,” Dr. Julio Montaner, the director of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, told reporters Tuesday.

In January 2018, the province expanded coverage for pre-exposure prophylaxis, known as PrEP. It’s a medication taken every day that’s effective at preventing HIV infection in people who are exposed to the virus.

The once-expensive drug cocktail is now free for men and trans women who have sex with men, injecting drug users and anyone whose partner is HIV-positive.

The government also expanded coverage for post-exposure prophylaxis, or PEP. That’s a medication taken soon after unforeseen exposure to the HIV/AIDS virus to prevent infection.

PEP is now available to sexual assault victims free of charge.

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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