The Pope Should Visit Atlanta to Address the U.S. HIV Crisis

Cities in the South are experiencing record-high rates of HIV infection among African Americans.

Pope Francis sent a message of hope to the International AIDS Society’s 8th Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention this past summer. He told participants, “that all advances in pharmacology, treatment, and research will be matched by a firm commitment to promote the integral development of each person as a beloved child of God.”

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Pope Francis’ message to the International AIDS Society conference was addressed to Dr. Julio Montaner, the director of the British Columbia Center of Excellence in HIV/AIDS at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver. In response, Montaner said that Pope Francis understood the HIV problem better than some scientists. The conference’s major focus was on ensuring early HIV treatment for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable. Those people are living in U.S. cities like Atlanta, where high HIV rates are largely the consequence of a lack of quality health insurance, as the Emory study found.

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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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