Editorial: Prejudice haunts HIV carriers

Carriers of HIV can understand what sufferers of leprosy endured in times past, and most of that suffering arose from misunderstanding. Leprosy was once so feared that sufferers of the disease were banished to colonies or forced to walk about crying “Unclean!” to avoid all contact with non-infected people. They were regarded as filthy and were given up for dead.

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But the rate of transmission and the number of deaths from the disease in B.C. has dropped dramatically over the past several years. B.C. has been a leader in the field – Dr. Julio Montaner, a professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia and one of the world’s leading HIV/AIDS experts, had a role in developing the retroviral therapy. Thanks to a drug regimen developed by B.C. Women’s Hospital researchers, no HIV-positive babies have been born in the past 15 years to HIV-positive mothers who underwent the full treatment.

Times Colonist
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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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