VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Vancouver Coastal Health says it’s on track to record the lowest number of new HIV cases in a single year since the virus became reportable more than fifteen years ago.
VCH is marking National HIV Testing Day by releasing data showing it has recorded 26 new diagnoses so far this year. In 2018, 86 people were diagnosed with the virus.
In a release, the health authority says this shows that made in B.C. solutions which inlcude outreach to marginalized communities, immediate and free access to antiretroviral drugs are working.
“When VCH and Providence Health Care embarked on the provincial STOP HIV/AIDS program in 2009, one in five Canadians living with HIV were estimated to be unaware that they have HIV, and we saw too many people newly diagnosed with HIV already in the advanced stages of disease,” says VCH Medical Health Officer Dr. John Harding.
“Today in our region, people are being diagnosed and linked to care earlier, which can prolong and improve people’s lives, as well as reduce transmission to others,” he adds.
Doctors are encouraging people to get tested in order to further lower the number of new cases. Free HIV testing is available at walk-in clinics, the BC Centre for Disease control, hospitals, and community health clinics.