A B.C. HIV/AIDS pioneer who has helped establish a standard of care for treatment and prevention that is used worldwide is calling on the leaders of Canada’s federal parties to endorse an ambitious global target for fighting AIDS.
In an open letter sent on Tuesday, Julio Montaner, director of B.C.’s Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, said committing to an initiative called the 90-90-90 target would be a significant step toward eliminating the disease.
The letter was sent to Conservative Leader Stephen Harper, NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde.
The 90-90-90 target, based on the B.C. centre’s treatment-as-prevention model, is for at least 90 per cent of all people living with HIV to know their HIV status by 2020; at least 90 per cent of all people with the virus to have access to high-quality antiretroviral therapy; and at least 90 per cent of those on treatment to have sustained viral suppression.
Countries including the United States, China, South Africa, France and Spain have signed on.
Meeting these targets by 2020 “will lead to a 90-per-cent reduction rate in the global burden of HIV/AIDS by 2030, when compared to a 2010 baseline (including AIDS-related morbidity and mortality, as well as HIV transmission),” Dr. Montaner wrote in his letter.
In an interview on Tuesday, Dr. Montaner noted the 90-90-90 target is a Canadian contribution to global health.
“It has been formally endorsed by Ban Ki-moon, the secretary-general of the United Nations, and it’s now been widely recognized by multiple countries around the world,” he said. “Yet, Canada is neither formally endorsing it domestically nor raising the flag internationally.”