Josie Osborne, Minister of Health, has issued the following statement in recognition of World AIDS Day and Indigenous AIDS Awareness Week:

“Dec. 1 marks World AIDS Day and the beginning of Indigenous AIDS Awareness Week. This is a time to renew our commitment to support and remove the barriers of stigma for people throughout the province who live with and are impacted by HIV/AIDS. This year’s theme, My Health, My Right!, represents the importance of making health care accessible and equitable to all.

“B.C. has been a global leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS since the 1980s, committing to providing resources people need, including education and treatment measures, in our steadfast commitment to ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

“I would like to recognize all the organizations and community partners working together to end the stigma of HIV/AIDS and ensure that people receive the culturally safe services and supports they need, including testing, treatment and prevention.

“The Treatment as Prevention (TasP) strategy, which was developed in B.C. by the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, has laid the groundwork for the UNAIDS targets of 90-90-90 by 2020 and 95-95-95 by 2025 toward ending the global AIDS epidemic by 2030. TasP has been adopted by the United Nations and all its member countries, including Canada.

“More recently, the government made pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) available to all B.C. residents deemed at high risk of contracting HIV. Together, the generalized TasP and the more focused PrEP have decreased AIDS incidence, premature AIDS deaths and new HIV infections by over 90% since the peak of the epidemic in the early 1990s.

“Another important partner in this work is the Pacific AIDS Network, which connects and supports 40 member organizations throughout B.C. that are addressing HIV, hepatitis C and harm reduction.

“We are continuing the work of implementing the 24 recommendations of the In Plain Sight report to eradicate racism and discrimination against Indigenous people in health care, which, like stigma, are a barrier preventing people from getting the care they need.

“By working together, we will be able to end the HIV epidemic and better support people impacted by HIV/AIDS, and we will continue to work together to meet that goal. We do this important work in the memory of those who lost their lives to HIV/AIDS and to support people living with HIV in our province and around the world.”

Learn More:

For more information about the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE), visit: https://bccfe.ca/

For more information about UNAIDS and the 2024 World AIDS Day theme, visit: https://www.who.int/southeastasia/news/detail/01-12-2024-world-aids-day#:~:text=Today%2C%20December%201st%2C%20we%20gather,the%20fundamental%20right%20to%20health

For more information about Indigenous AIDS Awareness Week, visit: https://www.caan.ca/indigenous-aids-awareness-week/

For more information about the In Plain Sight report, visit: https://engage.gov.bc.ca/app/uploads/sites/613/2020/11/In-Plain-Sight-Full-Report-2020.pdf

For more information about PAN (Pacific AIDS Network), visit: https://paninbc.ca/about/