The BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) has partnered with a number of key provincial stakeholders – including PAN and the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS – and has contracted the Centre for Global Public Health (CGPH) at the University of Manitoba to develop population size estimates for key populations: men who have sex with men (MSM); people who use injection drugs (PWID); and sex workers affected by HIV and Hepatitis C within the 5 regional health authorities in British Columbia. These population estimates will inform organizational, regional and provincial level HIV and Hepatitis C program planning, implementation and evaluation to achieve the objectives outlined in the framework: From Hope to Health: Towards an AIDS-free generation.
This is important work. We know that these populations are disproportionately impacted by HIV and HCV in our province. What we don’t know is how many people there are in each of these priority populations across the province as a whole, regardless of their HIV or HCV status and where they live. Because we don’t understand the ‘total population size’ for these populations we are not able to adequate understand the HIV and HCV epidemics and plan services and programs for these groups of people.