Fifty-eight people in the Interior Health Authority region have taken part in a medical initiative Health Minister Adrian Dix called an extraordinary success that may someday have impact on many diseases.
From January to June, 1,944 people benefited from free HIV pre-exposure (PrEP) and post-exposure (PEP) prophylaxis to deal with the the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and its final stage of infection, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). The program has seen a consistent decline in new HIV cases, Dix said.
On Jan. 1, the province introduced no-cost PrEP coverage and expanded access to PEP for those at risk of HIV infection. PrEP, a daily oral antiretroviral drug, is effective in reducing new cases of HIV; in clinical trials, its effectiveness has been between 92 and 99 per cent.
The free coverage will now become part of the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV AIDS resources, a program that group believes will see the number of new HIV cases in the province reduce by 83 per cent by 2026.
“With the expanded access to PrEP and PEP, we are making important investments to the publicly funded health system, not only because it is the right thing to do, but also because people depend on us to help them live their healthiest possible lives and that is something we’re committed to do,” Dix said.
Julio Montaner, director of the centre for excellence, said “the work we have done in HIV and AIDS proves the political will and expertise exists in British Columbia to expand the principles of TasP [treatment as prevention program] to other contagions.”
“This can have an immediate and measurable impact on the treatment and elimination of other high-burden diseases, such as hepatitis C, in British Columbia and across Canada,” she said. “Ultimately, the goal of a strong public-health strategy is a reduction in disease, alongside long-term health-care sustainability. If we can curb HIV, imagine the global leadership B.C. can show in tackling other communicable diseases through expanding access to testing, treatment and prevention.”