Medicalization is not a Four-Letter Word

BOB LEAHY ON THE FUTURE ROLE OF BIOMEDICAL SOLUTIONS, NOTABLY TREATMENT AS PREVENTION, IN IMPROVING THE HEALTH OF PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV AND IN HELPING PUT AN END TO THE EPIDEMIC.

We’ve been charged today with looking ahead and I’m going to do that, but I think it’s also important to frame that look ahead in terms of where we’ve come from and our own personal journeys.

So . . I need to state up front that for many years I’ve been an activist and while doing that work – it was one of my pet causes – I was an opponent of treatment as prevention. I didn’t like what I perceived as its emphasis on public health over personal health. I didn’t like the ethical issues it raised. I didn’t like the idea of starting treatment earlier than we had to. I was troubled by the notion of informed consent and how best to make sure that it happened. I didn’t like the prospect of side effects from taking what seemed like unnecessary medication when you could easily wait until it was absolutely needed. So I didn’t like the notion of treatment as prevention at all.

Bob Leahy – Editor
Positive Lite
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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

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