Treatment as Prevention¨

Vancouver, 1996: Researchers electrify the International AIDS Conference with news of a stunning scientific breakthrough. Using a combination of medicines, they have been able to reduce the amount of virus in the blood of people living with HIV to virtually undetectable levels. In what became known as the “Lazarus Effect,” people once near death were […]

A small, select group of people infected with HIV showed extraordinary immune responses that were able to hold the virus in check after early and aggressive treatment. Researchers in France have closely followed 14 patients who were treated within 10 weeks of infection with combination antiretroviral drugs (cART) for three years on average and then

The following is an op-ed by Dr. Julio Montaner. The scientific and clinical evidence is overwhelming. An HIV & AIDS-free generation is possible, even in sight, but lack of political leadership is failing to stop the epidemic and putting unnecessary lives at risk. As we mark World AIDS day, Canadians should demand government acts now.

B.C. is the only province where the rate of new HIV infections is falling steadily and markedly. B.C. is also the only province that offers highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) free of charge and aggressively promotes its use. Coincidence? Not at all. New research published in Wednesday’s edition of the medical journal Public Library of

Dr. Julio Montaner remembers when an AIDS diagnosis was pretty much a death sentence. “Now, it is a chronic illness,” said the doctor who has been on the forefront of research into the disease. “Twenty years ago, if we were talking to a woman, we would have told her that her survival was compromised and

British Columbia leads the country in reducing the spread of AIDS – there’s no reason it can’t lead the world in eliminating the disease altogether. B AIDS is one of the world’s deadliest diseases, afflicting nearly 40 million people. Although it is so far incurable, it can be contained, and most important of all, it

BC is the only province in Canada witnessing a significant decline in new HIV diagnoses, and experts say a local strategy emphasizing treatment as prevention could eliminate transmission of the disease if everyone was tested. Progress in testing and treatment has gained momentum in recent years with a number of breakthroughs developed by BC researchers.

At first glance, it seemed wasteful, almost insanely so. After the international AIDS conference in Washington, D.C., last week, health officials from B.C. were trumpeting mass population screening for HIV in their province, and eventually, beyond. According to the media reports, if we could get everyone who has ever been sexually active tested (on a

The following was written by Dr. Julio Montaner during the AIDS 2012 Conference. Over the next week, world leaders, delegates and community advocates from around the world will meet in Washington D.C. for the XIX International AIDS Conference. There, they’ll define and create a roadmap that will determine the direction of the global AIDS response