Health Minister Terry Lake marked World AIDS Day with the following statement:

“Right now is an exciting time and place for HIV/AIDS care and research. In the 1980s, a person with HIV or AIDS faced a devastating diagnosis, as well as discrimination and fear, and B.C. had the worst HIV epidemic in Canada.

“While this is fortunately not the case anymore, it’s important to honour and remember the many people who suffered as a result of this disease and to acknowledge that this suffering still continues today.

“Keeping this in our hearts has strengthened our resolve, and today B.C. is a world leader in the global fight against HIV/AIDS. Jurisdictions around the world look to us because of the success of our strategies.

“HIV/AIDS-related deaths in B.C. have decreased by more than 95% since 1996. We have virtually eliminated mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and newly-diagnosed HIV infections are down by two-thirds.

“With the proper treatment, what was once a life-threatening disease is now a manageable illness. Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) can lengthen and improve the quality of life of people living with HIV. In fact, sustained HAART treatment can add more than 50 years for people living with HIV. And we know now that it virtually eliminates HIV transmission.

“Over the last decade, thanks to the work of Dr. Julio Montaner, director of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, HAART has given rise to our Treatment as Prevention strategy. This means that not only does HAART prevent the disease from progressing to AIDS and premature death, it prevents HIV transmission.

“Through the BC Centre of Excellence in HIV/AIDS’s Drug Treatment program, HIV drugs, such as HAART, are provided free of charge to any British Columbian living with HIV. As well, the STOP HIV/AIDS program to expand the reach of HIV prevention, testing, treatment and support was rolled out across the province starting in 2013, thanks to $19.9 million in annual, targeted government funding.

“The Province also provided the St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation with $2 million to support its efforts to help the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS further expand the Hope to Health Research Clinic. Hope to Health is generating state-of-the-art scientific evidence to guide, monitor and evaluate our public health policy in the areas of HIV, addictions and viral hepatitis.

“Efforts to reduce the spread of HIV need to meet people where they are, and when they are ready to engage. This is why the Ministry of Health funds the distribution of harm reduction supplies, opioid substitution treatment, and supervised injection services – such as Insite in Vancouver, the first legal supervised injection site in North America.

“We’ve made incredible strides in our efforts against HIV/AIDS. World AIDS Day is an opportunity to celebrate that, acknowledge the past, and set our sights on what else we need to achieve.”