HIV pre-exposure pill a lifeline for sex workers

One pill a day will soon help keep thousands of sex workers HIV-free after the Department of Health is expected to announce on Friday (March 11) that it will provide antiretrovirals to thousands HIV-negative sex workers in a bid to keep them HIV free. The announcement is expected to make South Africa one of the first countries in the world to bring the latest HIV prevention science to those who need it most.

On Friday the department and the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) are expected to announce that at least 3 000 HIV-negative sex workers will be eligible to begin taking the combination antiretroviral (ARV) Truvada in order to prevent contracting HIV. Truvada combines the ARVs emtricitabine and tenofovir.

Large-scale clinical trials have shown that if taken daily, Truvada can reduce the risk of HIV infection by 90 percent in people at high risk for contracting HIV like sex workers or men who have sex with men.

SANAC and the department are also expected to announce that all HIV-positive sex workers will be eligible to start HIV treatment as soon as they test positive for the virus and regardless of CD4 counts in a model dubbed “test and treat.”

Currently, most people living with HIV must wait until their CD4 counts – a measure of the immune system’s strength – fall to 500 before they can start treatment.

Scroll to Top

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