Making treatment as prevention a reality for people who inject drugs

published on September 26, 2013 in AIDS map

People who inject drugs risk being left behind as countries make efforts to scale up antiretroviral treatment unless greater efforts are made to develop services that meet the needs of this group, according to speakers at Controlling the HIV Epidemic with Antiretrovirals: From Consensus to Implementation, a conference that took place in London this week.

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Prof. Julio Montaner of the University of British Columbia presented further data from the British Columbia HIV treatment programme, the first in Canada to embrace a 'seek and treat' approach to HIV diagnosis and care.

Modelling suggests that British Columbia has seen a 1% decline in HIV diagnoses for every 1% increase in treatment coverage, although the reduction in new diagnoses has been most pronounced in people who inject drugs. Further falls in deaths, AIDS diagnoses and TB diagnoses have occurred since 2006. The 'seek and treat' strategy has also resulted in a substantial increase in CD4 cell count at diagnosis, indicating that testing activities are diagnosing people earlier in the course of infection.

Keith Alcorn
AIDS Map
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(Please do not use any of these email addresses to send personal information or book an appointment. To book appointments or contact the H2H clinic, please call 604-416-1517 or fax: 604-564-4893. Do not send your or your client's personal information via email.)

© Copyright BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
St. Paul's Hospital 608–1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6Z 1Y6
Tel: 604-806-8477 | Fax: 604-806-9044
General inquiries: info@bccfe.ca
Media inquiries: communications@bccfe.ca
(Please do not use any of these email addresses to send personal information or book an appointment. To book appointments or contact the H2H clinic, please call 604-416-1517 or fax: 604-564-4893. Do not send your or your client's personal information via email.)

Our work serves clients and communities across British Columbia on lands and waters cared for and nurtured by the many distinct First Nations across the province. The BC-CfE humbly and gratefully acknowledge the stewards of these lands, particularly the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh) on whose unceded, traditional and ancestral territories our offices are located.