BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS initiative reaches British Columbians with opioid use disorder (OUD) with approach modeled after HIV/AIDS

published on November 21, 2019

Inspired by the dramatic reduction in HIV rates in BC, the BOOST Collaborative is working
to increase the number of people on effective opioid agonist therapy across BC

Thursday 21 November 2019- The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) released results from its Provincial BOOST (Best Practices in Oral Opioid AgoniSt Therapy) Collaborative today, revealing an increase in the number of British Columbians being treated for opioid use disorder (OUD).

The 29 clinical teams participating in the Provincial BOOST Collaborative, across all provincial health authorities, recorded an increase in the number of OUD clients retained on treatment at 3 months from 80% in March 2019 to 90% by September 2019. The number of recorded active OAT prescriptions rose from 903 in January 2019 to 2574 by September 2019.

Research shows individuals with OUD will reduce illicit opioid use and remain on treatment longer with appropriate doses of opioid agonist therapy (OAT) such as methadone, buprenorphine/naloxone or slow release oral morphine.  Despite the known benefits of OAT, only 39 percent of those who start methadone treatment remain on treatment at 6 months and only 29 percent remain after 1 year.

“The Provincial BOOST Collaborative clearly demonstrates how compassionate care, commitment, teamwork and simple day-to-day interventions, like follow-up phone calls, can retain people in care and have a transformative, potentially life-saving impact on British Columbians with OUD,” says Dr. Rolando Barrios, Senior Medical Director, BC-CfE. “Due to the results of the provincial BOOST Collaborative, the BC-CfE is advocating for the need of a robust Quality Improvement Network across BC where healthcare workers can continue to share their learnings in treating patients with OUD.”

Through BOOST, 77 percent of participating teams now include a client/family voice, an individual who has directly or indirectly experienced the impact of OUD themselves, as part of their clinical practice in a bid to increase healthcare workers understanding of clients with OUD. Other processes used by the clinical teams to increase client engagement included follow-up calls and texts in advance of appointments, conducting surveys with clients on their clinical needs and incentivizing clients to remain on treatment.

“BOOST participants and front-line workers in rural and urban clinical environments face unique challenges but possess unfailing determination to change and save lives,” says Sylvia Lai, a BOOST participant and Clinical Coordinator, Inner City Youth Program, Foundry Vancouver Granville. “The Provincial BOOST Collaborative has concluded, but our hope is healthcare workers across the province will learn from our experiences and make changes in their own clinical setting to positively benefit some of BC’s most vulnerable residents.”

The Provincial BOOST Collaborative was funded by Health Canada’s Substance Use and Addictions Program (SUAP) and the Shared Care Committee, based on the successful outcomes of the Vancouver BOOST Collaborative, which demonstrated a dramatic increase in client retention in OUD treatment in Vancouver Coastal Health clinics. Both initiatives are centred around the BC-CfE’s pioneering treatment paradigm, Treatment as Prevention (TasP). TasP has been used with great success in BC and globally to reduce HIV to undetectable levels in people who are on effective and sustained antiretroviral treatment, significantly decreasing the likelihood of transmission and AIDS-related mortality.

“Our Treatment as Prevention strategy is the foundation of our approach to HIV and AIDS and has been applied effectively to other conditions to help achieve healthcare sustainability in BC,” said Dr Julio Montaner, Executive Director and Physician-in-Chief, BC-CfE. “The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS is collaborating with government, health authorities, researchers and the community to ensure initiatives, such as the BOOST Collaborative, bring us closer to achieving an equitable healthcare system for all British Columbians, regardless of the complexity of their healthcare needs.”

About the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) is Canada’s largest HIV/AIDS research, treatment and education facility – nationally and internationally recognized as an innovative world leader in combating HIV/AIDS and related diseases. The made-in-BC Treatment as Prevention strategy (TasP) pioneered by BC-CfE, and supported by UNAIDS since 2011, inspired the ambitious global target for HIV treatment - known as the 90-90-90 Target - to end AIDS as a pandemic by 2030. The BC-CfE is applying TasP to therapeutic areas beyond HIV/AIDS, including viral hepatitis and addiction™, to promote Targeted Disease Elimination as a means to contribute to healthcare sustainability. The BC-CfE works in close collaboration with key stakeholders, including government, health authorities, health care providers, academics, and the community to decrease the health burden of HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C and addictions across Canada and around the world.

For more information, please contact:

Rena Heer
Cell: 604-250-2800
Email: rena.heer@edelman.com

Rachel Galligan
Cell: 604-753-7275
Email: rachel.galligan@edelman.com

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Rolando Barrios

Julio Montaner

BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS

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BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS initiative reaches British Columbians with opioid use disorder (OUD) with approach modeled after HIV/AIDS

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