HIV prevention gains bring hope – and challenges

Injectable PrEP and other options are in the pipeline, and that makes clinical trials more complicated

A clinical trial set to begin later this year will test whether an experimental drug injected every two months protects against HIV infection as effectively as a once-a-day pill called Truvada. If it does, the long-acting PrEP drug – for “pre-exposure prophylaxis” – would add another major tool to an HIV prevention toolbox that for the global pandemic’s first 30 years was limited to education, testing and condoms.

The study comes as the HIV field enters what researchers are calling a new era of prevention, with additional clinical trials launching that will test infusions of anti-HIV antibodies and a promising vaccine candidate. That’s extraordinarily good news for a pandemic in which 35 million people worldwide have died from AIDS-related illnesses since the first cases were reported in 1981 and 2.1 million are newly infected each year.

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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