British Columbia Leads the Way

published on September 12, 2013 in Positive Lite.com

New HIV diagnoses in British Columbia continue to decline at a rate faster than other Canadian regions, suggesting the made-in-B.C. Treatment as Prevention strategy implemented in the province should be adopted across the country.

In an article published in this September’s issue of HIV Medicine, researchers from the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) analyzed Health Canada data from 1995 to 2011 finding that B.C., of all Canadian jurisdictions, has had the largest decline in the rate of HIV new diagnoses and in lifetime costs averted. The authors called for further efforts to implement B.C.’s successful Treatment as Prevention strategy across Canada.

“The consistent and sustained decrease in new HIV diagnoses in British Columbia reinforces Treatment as Prevention as a highly effective approach in the fight against HIV/AIDS,” said Dr. Julio Montaner, senior author and director of the BC-CfE. “The evidence should now be absolutely clear: Treatment as Prevention is the best way to achieve an HIV and AIDS-free generation. It’s time for Canada’s leaders to emulate the government of B.C. and adopt this as the national strategy to stop HIV/AIDS.”

B.C. is the only province to implement the Treatment as Prevention strategy, which calls for widespread free and facilitated access to HIV testing and highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). As a result, B.C. has seen HIV-related morbidity and mortality decline by approximately 90 per cent since the early 1990s, and the number of new HIV diagnoses has fallen from approximately 800 per year prior to 1996 to 238 in 2012.

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Julio Montaner

BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS

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British Columbia Leads the Way

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