BC-CfE Throughout History
HIV/AIDS nursing course established at Univerity of British Columbia School of Nursing
- BC-CfE unveils results of the INCAS trial, demonstrating HAART’s remarkable suppression of HIV
- BC-CfE plays a key role in organizing the XI International AIDS Conference in Vancouver
- Viral load testing is introduced to monitor disease progression and response to HAART
- UBC investigators report the success of triple drug therapy at the Vancouver International AIDS Conference. New standard of care incorporating viral load monitoring and trip therapy is unveiled at this conference.
- B.C. becomes the first Canadian province to adopt triple drug therapy and viral load testing for all eligible patients in a publicly funded plan and immediately sees dramatically reduced HIV/AIDS related morbidity and mortality.
- BC-CfE research findings revealed an explosive outbreak of HIV and hepatitis C in injection drug users in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
Dr. Montaner was the key driver in the discovery of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), a game changer which helps to reduce viral load in HIV patients. HAART dramatically reduces the risk of spreading HIV, while improving the health and longevity of patients on treatment.
“We have shown that we can suppress viral replication and keep it there,” Dr. Montaner said today in a
telephone interview. “It’s too early to talk about eradication, but it’s now possible to think of this, at least
theoretically.”
“Dr. Julio S. G. Montaner of Vancouver found that inclusion of a drug known as nevirapine
instead of a protease inhibitor showed similar benefit.”
- HIV Ward opened at St. Paul’s Hospital on 10C with 12 beds.
- Multiple Drug Rescue Therapy is developed for patients failing conventional therapies.
“There are several combinations, many that include the new protease inhibitors, or antiviral drugs. All can
drive the amount of H.I.V., the AIDS virus, below the levels of detection in the blood for up to 18 months,
which is as long as testing has been done. With such therapy, some individuals have left their death beds
and many who were less seriously ill are leading more normal lives.”
BC-CfE’s research laboratory is accredited by the College of American Pathologists/CLIA and the BC Diagnostic Accreditation Program.
BC-CfE first to use therapeutic drug monitoring of antiretroviral drugs for HIV infection in Canada.
- BC-CfE’s research laboratory produced techniques to measure the amount and impact of different levels of adherence to HIV therapies.
- BC-CfE initiates the Scientific Evaluation of North America’s first supervised injection facility – Insite.
- BC-CfE initiates a large cohort study of street-involved youth to examine their health-related needs.
The John Ruedy Clinic at St. Paul’s Hospital is a comprehensive primary care clinic for people living with HIV/AIDS in British Columbia. The JRC is a collaboration between the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and Providence Health Care. With a focus on addressing the needs of the whole person and reducing the impact of poverty, addictions, mental health, food insecurity and episodic homelessness, the clinic offers integrated and comprehensive services to patients. The JRC is named in honour of John Ruedy, MD, who helped transform St. Paul’s Hospital into a comprehensive clinical-care centre for patients with HIV/AIDS.
Initiation of the Preceptorship Program at JRC for family physicians interested in further training for the care of HIV patients. This is a 3-month long rotation exposing physicians to an interdisciplinary approach to the management of HIV/AIDS and participating in primary and specialized care.
- BC-CfE submitted Health Canada “Special Access Program” application to provide two investigational HIV drugs to six patients resistant to all other therapies. Health Canada denies the BC-CfE access and the BC-CfE publicly campaigns for access. Health Canada reverses its decision and the BC-CfE is first to prescribe the combination of TMC114 (darunavir) and TMC125 (etravirine) together to the remaining five patients.
- BC-CfE’s research lab demonstrated the effect of impact of human and virus genetics in the response to HAART treatments.
- BC-CfE launched large cohort of women in sex work to examine their sexual health and HIV needs and barriers to care.
- BC-CfE published a landmark paper on “The case for expanding access to highly active antiretroviral therapy to curb the growth of the epidemic” (Lancet 2006; 368: 531-36). Since then, BC-CfE has gained the endorsement of the provincial government to roll out such a program in BC.
- HIV Ward expanded to 24 beds. Since its opening in 1997, there have been approximately 400 annual admissions.
- IDC introduced the post-exposure prophylaxis clinic to provide support to patients requiring more extensive counseling and/or support and for patients without a source of primary care.
Dr. Montaner pioneered an innovative new concept called Treatment as Prevention (TasP) based on the notion that providing access to HAART at the earliest point following an HIV diagnosis could dramatically reduce the spread of HIV. The Lancet published a study led by Dr. Montaner presenting evidence supporting the efficiency of TasP in reducing new HIV cases.
“The St. Paul’s Hospital doctor whose treatments have lifted many a death sentence says this mission began when he was just a boy”
The authors, led by Professor Julio Montaner, say their model shows that HIV prevalence could be reduced
70-fold, from 7 cases per 1000 people to 0.1 case per 1000 by 2050.
“Thanks to Dr. Julio Montaner and the CfE team, thousands of HIV/AIDS patients in B.C., and millions around the world, could benefit from new and improved drug therapies”
We know what is needed in the war against AIDS/HIV; what is lacking is the global leadership to do it
- BC-CfE’s research laboratory introduced widespread human pharmacogenetic testing for treatment side effects into routine clinical practice.
- The interprofessional HIV/AIDS elective offered through the College of Health Disciplines, University of British Columbia celebrates its 10th anniversary, approximately 250 students have completed the course.
- BC-CfE initiates a large cohort study of HIV-positive injection drug users (IDUs) in the Downtown Eastside aimed at addressing barriers to HIV treatment among IDUs.
- The first academic Canadian Division of AIDS is established within the Department of Medicine at UBC, headed by Dr. Montaner and based at the BC-CfE.
Urban Health Research Institute (UHRI) established as a program of the BC-CfE at St. Paul’s Hospital
BC-CfE initiates a large cohort study of HIV-positive injection drug users (IDUs) in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside aimed at addressing barriers to HIV treatment among IDUs.
““We have come a long way in two decades of treating HIV/AIDS,” says Montaner, Director of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS. “I really believe by expanding HAART (highly active anti-retroviral therapy), a therapy proven to work, we can finally control this epidemic.”what is lacking is the global leadership to do it”
- British Columbia’s HIV Patient Safety Initiative is launched.
- Funded by the Canadian Patient Safety Institute, this demonstration project developed a population-based surveillance system to monitor antiretroviral-related adverse events, and would later become BC-CfE’s Pharamcovigilance Initiative
Click here to learn more about adverse drug reaction reporting
- BC-CfE’s proposed expanded access to highly active antiretroviral therapy to curb the growth of the HIV epidemic is endorsed by former Special Envoy to UNAIDS Stephen Lewis, President Bill Clinton and The Economist.
- Dr. Montaner received an inaugural Avant Garde award ($2.5 million over 5 years) from the National Institute on Drug Abuse in the USA to support further development of the proposed expanded access to antiretroviral therapy to curb the growth of the HIV epidemic, also known as STOP HIV/AIDS.
- Dr. Montaner is appointed President of the International AIDS Society in Mexico City for the term of 2008-2010 and restates the case for Treatment as Prevention.
“In order to be more proactive, we generated data that demonstrates that, when treated, the virus goes down in the blood, but also in the semen and vaginal secretions and so forth,” said Dr. Julio Montaner, the director of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, which produced the study.
AIDS has a new enemy and he’s from B.C. Dr. Julio Montaner, director of the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS in Vancouver, is the new president of the Geneva-based International AIDS Society (IAS).
Dr. Montaner said he could envision a program in which HIV-positive patients who are also addicts would receive daily anti-retroviral drugs at the same clinic where they received drug-addiction therapy. The HIV-treatment plan would have to be tailor-made for each individual.
Julio Montaner, the president of the International Aids Society and a long-time proponent of drugs-as-prevention argues that a big ramp-up of funding for drug treatment would change the course of the epidemic, benefit patients and save money in the long run by preventing new cases.
The number of deaths in Vancouver as a result of a heroin overdose or the use of other illegal drugs could drop by as much as 80 per cent from the peak 10 years ago
A paper published by the BC-CfE in BMJ provides the first empirical evidence demonstrating an adverse relationship between the criminalization of sex work and elevated sexual HIV risk and violence in street-based sex work.
BC-CfE launches the Gender and Sexual Health Initiative (GSHI), a network of studies examining the sexual health inequities and gaps in women-centred HIV care for marginalized populations. GSHI research focuses particularly youth, women and sex workers.
The study, by researchers at the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and published in the Harm Reduction Journal, is the first in Canada to estimate the per-capita prevalence ranges for high risk groups.
Following successful completion of a pilot phase, the BC-CfE Pharmacovigilance project became an ongoing initiative to ensure the safe use of antiretroviral therapy in BC. This was particularly important in preparation for the STOP HIV/AIDS program. The scaling up of HIV therapy across BC required evidence of safety and confidence that there would be no unintended harm to the population taking antiretrovirals.
- BC-CfE launched the International Centre for Science in Drug Policy (ICSDP) to conduct research on illicit drug policy issues. The ICSDP is an international network of scientists, academics and health practitioners committed to improving the health and safety of communities and individuals affected by illicit drugs.
- BC-CfE and the International Centre for Science in Drug Policy partner with the International AIDS Society to launch the Vienna Declaration, the official declaration of AIDS 2010. The Vienna Declaration calls upon governments around the world to implement and evaluate a science-based public health approach to address harms stemming from illicit drug use.
- The landmark concept of Treatment as Prevention provided the building blocks for a radical new approach by UNAIDS to HIV treatment, dubbed “Treatment 2.0.” A BC-CfE study, published in the Lancet and released at AIDS 2010 in Vienna, shows that the introduction of HAART for HIV patients has halved the number of new HIV diagnoses in B.C., since 1996. UNAIDS cites the study findings as evidence supporting their push for Treatment 2.0.
B.C. Ministry of Health announced support of Treatment as Prevention by providing $48-million funding over four years for a pilot project called STOP HIV/AIDS, aiming to expand access to early treatment for medically eligible HIV-positive individuals among hard-to-reach populations.
BC-CfE co-hosted The Impact of Science & Innovation in the Evolving Global Health Paradigm: HIV & AIDS-A Global Challenge of Olympic Proportion on February 26th. The 2010 Olympic Games provided a rare platform to cast light on international collaborative efforts to halt the progression of HIV and what can be accomplished in the arena of global health when nations participate together. With the backdrop of the 2010 Games, we demonstrated how HIV serves as an example of a truly global health challenge, how the effective implementation and adoption of science and innovation is required to overcome it, and how local excellence is making a global impact. World leaders in HIV health and innovation, including Dr. Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director and Dr. Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the US National Institutes of Health, and others, convened at UBC to share their perspectives on the challenges we face under a shifting global health paradigm.B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS in Vancouver, is the new president of the Geneva-based International AIDS Society (IAS).
World leaders in HIV research, health, innovation and policy shared latest and compelling perspectives on the challenges being faced under a shifting global health paradigm.
Canada’s highest court says it will decide whether federal government has the authority to close Vancouver clinic.
In September 2010, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH) Bureau of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control (BHAPC) received funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention to develop an Enhanced Comprehensive HIV Prevention Plan (ECHPP) for New York City. The primary goals of the ECHPP process are to identify the optimal combination of coordinated HIV prevention, care and treatment services that can maximize the impact on reducing new HIV infections in the five boroughs of New York City.
China announced the implementation of Treatment as Prevention, based on the B.C. model
Following the 2009 and 2010 meetings, co-hosted by the BC-CfE, on the global health evolution of HIV/AIDS and promoting implementation science of treatment as prevention, the Division of AIDS and BC-CfE established the International HIV Treatment as Prevention Workshop to take place on an annual basis. The Workshop brings academic, policy, industry, and community representatives together to review new data and to identify priority areas for research and action related to the impact of combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) use among HIV infected individuals on the transmission of HIV infection.
You can go to the Treatment as Prevention Workshop website
The Supreme Court of Canada unanimously ruled that InSite, Canada’s first safe-injection site which is evaluated by the BC-CfE, can remain open.
Secretary Clinton Delivers Remarks on HIV/AIDS at the National Institutes of Health
Science named Treatment as Prevention as the “scientific breakthrough of the year” for 2011, Time named it the number three scientific breakthrough of the year and Reader’s Digest called it a medical breakthrough for 2012.
The Momentum Health Study launched. Coordinated by the BC-CfE and funded by the National Institutes for Health (NIH), National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), Momentum aims to report new estimates of HIV prevalence among men who have sex with men (MSM) in the Greater Vancouver area using Respondent Driven Sampling.
- The Ontario Court of Appeal upheld a decision to strike down Canada’s prostitution laws for failing to protect sex workers’ health and safety. BC-CfE legally intervened in the case. The Supreme Court of Canada will hear the case in 2013.
- A study published by the Gender and Sexual Health Initiative (GSHI) of the BC-CfE shows availability of indoor sex spaces is potentially life saving to sex workers and reduces violence, HIV risk, and improve relationships with police.
- The Washington D.C. Declaration to End the AIDS Epidemic became the official declaration of the International AIDS Conference, seeking to build support for beginning to end the AIDS epidemic through a nine-point action plan, centered around the Made in BC-HIV Treatment as Prevention strategy.
- During his closing speech at the International AIDS Conference in Washington DC, former U.S. President Bill Clinton called for increased political will and investment to end the AIDS epidemic, when he said:
“We’ll have to heed Julio Montaner’s years of pleas to implement Treatment as Prevention and implement combination prevention programs, we can save a lot of lives if all this is done.” - BC-CfE’s Dr. Evan Wood named Tier 1 Canadian Research Chair in Inner City Medicine at UBC.
- Goldcorp announced funding for new BC-CfE-led Addiction Medicine fellowship, Dr. Evan Wood is appointed to lead the Addictions Medicine Program.
- A BC-CfE study published in PLOS One showed highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) reduces new HIV diagnoses, deaths and HIV prevalence.
- BC-CfE develops a new metric called the Programmatic Compliance Score (PCS) to help identify individuals who are at a high risk of mortality as a result of improper disease management in the beginning of treatment. Through validation of the metric, researchers found adherence to HIV treatment guidelines significantly increases survival.
- Minister of Health Margaret MacDiarmid announces $19.9-million provincial roll out of the BC-CfE-pioneered Seek and Treat for Optimal Prevention of HIV/AIDS (STOP HIV/AIDS) pilot project. The roll out will expand to include the following Health Authorities: Fraser, Vancouver Island, Interior Health Northern and Vancouver Coastal to ensure HIV positive individuals have access to the best care and treatment and to further reduce HIV transmissions in British Columbia.
- Two new studies from BC-CfE find homelessness and a history of childhood sexual abuse, are key factors in promoting youth injection drug use. Results published in the Journal of Adolescent Health found youth who were homeless were almost twice as likely to inject drugs than youth who were not homeless. In a separate study published in Preventive Medicine, researchers found those reporting childhood sexual abuse were more than two-and-a-half times as likely to start injecting drugs as compared to those who had no history of such abuse.
- Dr. Richard Harrigan, Director of the Laboratory Program at BC-CfE, is awarded the Innovation and Achievement Award by LifeSciences BC for his industry-leading work in HIV clinical research.
- BC-CfE UHRI publishes a study with the Thai AIDS Treatment Action Group (TTAG) and Thailand’s Mitsampan Community Research Project. The study found the Thai government’s longstanding war-on-drugs, involving the mass incarceration of people who use drugs, has failed to suppress the availability and use of illegal drugs in the country.
- BC-CfE Research Laboratory is awarded a $5-million grant over four years by Genome Canada to develop new methods using DNA sequencing technologies. The research will address drug resistance and subsequent HIV treatment failure. The project goals are to introduce an improved HIV drug resistance test, implement real-time HIV drug resistance surveillance, and develop individualized treatment of HIV based on each patient’s unique DNA.
- B.C. Health Minister Margaret MacDiarmid announces $1.5-million in funding to develop a strategy to address the Hepatitis B & C epidemic in BC. The strategy will be based on BC-CfE’s successful HIV Treatment as Prevention model.
- Dr. Robert Hogg, Director of the Epidemiology and Population Health Program at BC-CfE, is named incoming president of the Canadian Association for HIV Research (CAHR).
- IAS 2015 will take place at the Vancouver Convention Centre, 19 – 22 July 2015.
- Held every two years, the IAS conference is a unique forum for scientist, clinicians, public health experts and community leaders to examine the latest developments in HIV science and also explore how such developments can be realistically applied in implementation programmes.
Before the STOP HIV/AIDS pilot had wrapped up and based on its early and remarkable success, the B.C. Government announced in 2013 a province-wide expansion of the STOP HIV/AIDS program. The announcement came with $19.9 million in funding for the province-wide rollout in an effort to provide prevention, testing, and treatment to hard-to-reach and highly impacted communities.
Imagine an AIDS Free Generation. With your help, Together, we can STOP HIV/AIDS.
Imagine an AIDS Free Generation. With your help, Together, we can STOP HIV/AIDS.
France has announced the adoption of the Treatment as Prevention (TasP) strategy, as pioneered by the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE), to combat HIV and AIDS.
France becomes the latest country to adopt TasP, originally endorsed by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in 2010. Since then, in 2011 China became the first nation to adopt the strategy, and the U.S. identified TasP as a key strategy to achieve an AIDS-free generation in 2012. More recently, in July 2013, the World Health Organization fully incorporated TasP in the new Global HIV Treatment Guidelines.
“Brazil has announced plans to adopt the Treatment as Prevention (TasP) strategy to combat HIV and AIDS, becoming the latest country to implement the strategy pioneered by the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE).
Brazil joins France as the second country this month to announce plans to adopt TasP, which involves widespread HIV testing and immediate offer of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) to people living with HIV. Treatment has been shown to virtually eliminate progression of the disease to AIDS and premature death, and simultaneously stop transmission of the virus.
“China and British Columbia are partnering to advance the global fight against HIV/AIDS through the further implementation of the made-in-B.C. HIV Test and Treat strategy, also referred to as Treatment as Prevention.
While in Beijing, China, on her government’s current trade mission, Premier Christy Clark signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the National Centre for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention, Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCAIDS/China CDC) and the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE). The MoU cements the relationship between China and the BC-CfE, which first began when China announced its implementation of the Test and Treat (Treatment as Prevention) strategy in 2011.
An individual in North America beginning HIV treatment can now expect to live into their early 70s, a dramatic increase from just over 10 years ago, according to a new study from a collaboration of researchers led by the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE).
“In December, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the country’s anti-prostitution laws in a unanimous decision.
The court’s decision struck down three key provisions in the Criminal Code that make communicating for the purposes of prostitution, bawdy houses, and living off the avails of prostitute all illegal. The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS legally intervened in the case.
“The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) have announced a partnership that will accelerate HIV treatment access globally.
On February 5, at a meeting at the UNAIDS headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the two organizations formalized their partnership to support efforts to bring HIV treatment to all eligible people.
Panama has become the latest country to adopt British Columbia’s HIV Treatment as Prevention strategy.
Panama and the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to partner in the global fight against HIV/AIDS through the implementation of the made-in-B.C. strategy.
Archbishop Zimowski called for the implementation of Treatment 2015, the framework developed by UNAIDS to expand access to life-saving HIV treatment to 15 million people living with the disease.
Dr. Julio Montaner, director of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, addressed the delegation today. He applauded the Archbishop and the Vatican for speaking in support of expanding Treatment as Prevention.
“A $3-million research chair has been established to investigate ways to improve the wellbeing of people with HIV/AIDS and the effectiveness of the health care system that treats them. The chair is the result of a partnership between Simon Fraser University’s Faculty of Health Sciences, St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation and the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS at St. Paul’s Hospital.
The St. Paul’s Hospital CANFAR Chair in HIV/AIDS Research, held by Dr. Bohdan Nosyk, is the first chair in British Columbia to focus on conducting health economics research to find ways for HIV and AIDS programs to provide treatment to patients in a more cost-effective and efficient manner.
“What new targets for treatment? Which aim? Which resources?
The International HIV Treatment as Prevention Workshop brings together academic, policy, industry, and community representatives to review and discuss research and policy progress in the field of HIV treatment as prevention. This Davos-style roundtable session will bring together key national decision-makers and pivotal international partners to explore the importance of new treatment targets, drawing on best practices and country-led examples.”
An AIDS-free B.C. is in sight, as Premier Christy Clark along with UN undersecretary and executive director for UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé, and Dr. Julio Montaner, director for the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, and Health Minister Terry Lake announced that ward 10C at St. Paul’s Hospital will no longer be used as a dedicated AIDS ward.
The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS is shocked and saddened at the tragic news of the crash of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, we offer our thoughts and prayers to the families and friends whose loved ones died on this flight. We are particularily stricken by the loss of our friend and colleague, Dutch HIV and AIDS Scientist Dr. Joep Lange and other attendees to the International AIDS Society’s 20th Annual conference in Melbourne, Australia.
The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS is at AIDS 2014, the 20th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, Australia. Check back here daily from for the latest information from the conference, including news, presentations, and more.
BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS signs memorandum of understanding with the Queensland Government. Queensland will formally adopt the made-in-BC HIV Treatment as Prevention (TasP) strategy, pioneered by the BC-CfE.
The United Nations has formally adopted the HIV strategy of Vancouver doctor Dr. Julio Montaner.
In an event today in advance of World AIDS Day, on behalf of the Government of B.C., Minister of Health Terry Lake recognized the ongoing and lifelong leadership of Dr. Julio Montaner, director of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE), towards eliminating HIV and AIDS. As a result of the province-wide implementation of the Treatment as Prevention (TasP) strategy – pioneered by Dr. Montaner – B.C. is the only province in Canada consistently seeing a decline in new HIV infections while HIV infections continue to increase nationally.
Nations and regions worldwide have adopted Treatment as Prevention as a strategy or have signed a Memorandums of Understanding with the BC-CfE and other partners affirming commitments to adopting the strategy. These include the province of British Columbia; the U.S. cities of San Francisco and Washington, DC; Brazil; China; France; Spain; Panama; South Africa; Swaziland; and the province of Queensland, Australia.
The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) is proud to announce Dr. Julio Montaner, director of the BC-CfE, has been recognized by His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, as an Officer of the Order of Canada. The honour is in recognition of Dr. Montaner’s contributions to establishing the global standard of care for HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, and for his leadership in the international HIV/AIDS research community.
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has given the ‘thumbs up’ to the ground-breaking work of a leading Argentinian-Canadian doctor who pioneered the use of Antiretroviral drugs to treat and prevent HIV infections. Dr Julio Montaner, who is director of the British Colombia Centre for Excellence in HIV-AIDS and a special advisor to the UNAIDS programme, met with the Pope and other top Vatican officials on Wednesday to seek support for the goal of extending the life-saving treatments to as many HIV-infected people as possible over the next five years.
Dr. Julio Montaner, Director of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) at Providence Health Care, was among a select group inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame on Thursday. He joins five other outstanding doctors who “represent Canada’s most accomplished medical innovators”.
“The Downtown Eastside is now home to a world-class HIV/AIDS, addiction and viral hepatitis research centre.
“”The Hope to Health Research Clinic will not only help address addictions and HIV needs of the most vulnerable populations in the Downtown Eastside but the research developed here will inform addictions, HIV and hepatitis strategies throughout the province and beyond,”” said Health Minister Terry Lake.
Lake attended the official opening of the Hope to Health Research Clinic today, and announced provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall will chair the Network for Excellence in Substance Dependence and Related Harms, which will be established this summer.
Panama City, Republic of Panama [June 29, 2015] — In collaboration with the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE), over a year ago, Panama became the first Central American country to adopt British Columbia’s HIV Treatment as Prevention® (TasP®) strategy. Panama is once again taking a leadership position by announcing the implementation of the UNAIDS 90-90-90 treatment targets to reduce the global HIV/AIDS pandemic by 2030.
The 8th IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention (IAS 2015) will be held at the Vancouver Convention Centre on 19-22 July 2015 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This biennial forum is the largest open scientific conference on HIV/AIDS related issues and is expected to gather some 6,000 delegates from across the globe.
The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) and the Government of Brazil signed a Letter of Intent in which Brazil confirmed its commitment to expanding access to lifesaving antiretroviral therapy across the country. Brazil began implementing Treatment as Prevention® (TasP®) in December 2013, a concept pioneered by Director Dr. Julio Montaner at the BC-CfE and introduced at the 2006 IAS Conference.
Governor General to Invest 47 Recipients into the Order of Canada
The Province has provided $5 million to the St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation for a research study on how to reduce new infections of hepatitis C in the province, announced Health Minister Terry Lake today, along with BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BCCfE) director Dr. Julio Montaner.
A number of proficient BC-CfE researchers travelled to Durban, South Africa, this year for the 21st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016) held from July 18 to 22. Dr. Julio Montaner and Irene Day joined the conference, attended by over 15,000 delegates.
Julio Montaner, Professor in the Department of Medicine and Head of the UBC Division of AIDS, has been appointed a University Killam Professor, the highest honor UBC can confer on a faculty member.
“Some of the province’s most vulnerable people will benefit from research into HIV/AIDS, addiction and viral hepatitis that will be carried out at the world-class Hope to Health Research Centre following a successful expansion project supported in part through $2 million in government funding.
Today Health Minister Terry Lake announced $5 million of additional funding for the BC Centre on Substance Use (BCCSU), as well as $1.9 million in ongoing funding to support the centre’s operations.A private donor has also stepped forward with a generous $1-million initial donation through St. Paul’s Foundation, launching further fundraising efforts to support the centre’s important work.
“The largest bio-behavioural Canadian study of gay, bi and queer men (including trans men) has just launched from three major cities: Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. The Engage Study will help create a clearer picture of the evolving epidemic among this at-risk group to inform more effective prevention programs.
“BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and Vancouver Coastal Health bring twenty teams together to improve access to suboxone and methadone and treatment.
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) has awarded the inaugural CIHR Gold Leaf for Impact prize to the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS to recognize 25 years of providing care and treatment for those living with HIV/AIDS.
“Reaching people living with HIV with care, treatment and support to improve their longevity and quality of life, and to prevent new infections (a concept known as Treatment as Prevention, or TasP® ) has helped bring the HIV epidemic under control in British Columbia. TasP is a strategy many countries around the world have adopted. Now, the Canadian expert who developed TasP® is looking to transfer the success of this initiative to stamp out another global epidemic: hepatitis C.
“Diabetes Canada adapting made-in-BC Treatment as Prevention® (TasP®) strategy to diabetes, making 6 million Canadians aware of their status.
Diabetes Canada is adopting the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS Treatment as Prevention® (TasP®) approach to tackle the epidemic of diabetes and prediabetes currently affecting over 11 million Canadians. This is the first time the made-in-BC TasP® strategy, and the related global 90-90-90 Target for the control of HIV/AIDS, will be applied to a non-infectious disease.
British Columbians, including men and transwomen who have sex with men, people who inject drugs, and people who have sex with individuals living with HIV, can now access free medication to protect against HIV.
As of January 1st, the province of British Columbia is covering the cost of pre-exposure prophylaxis treatment (PrEP), recommended by the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) as an effective method to prevent HIV in people at risk of infection.
” The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) announced Dr. Zabrina Brumme has been appointed Director of Canada’s leading HIV laboratory program. Dr. Brumme will be on secondment from her position as Associate Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University (SFU), where she additionally holds a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar award.
“Researchers at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) and Simon Fraser University (SFU), in partnership with University of British Columbia (UBC) and Western University, have developed a novel way for dating “hibernating” HIV strains, in an advancement for HIV cure research in the province. Published in the prestigious journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the BC-CfE’s first major scientific contribution to the area of HIV cure research confirms that dormant HIV strains can persist in the body for decades.
- For the past 10 years, the BC-CfE Pharmacovigilance Initiative has been monitoring antiretroviral-related adverse events to protect the safety of people taking medications for HIV treatment and prevention.
Read more - Important contributions include publication of safety alerts, annual reports, and scientific literature, and supporting medication safety education.
Read more
“Researchers at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) and Simon Fraser University (SFU), in partnership with University of British Columbia (UBC) and Western University, have developed a novel way for dating “hibernating” HIV strains, in an advancement for HIV cure research in the province. Published in the prestigious journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the BC-CfE’s first major scientific contribution to the area of HIV cure research confirms that dormant HIV strains can persist in the body for decades.
A first-of-its-kind initiative—based on the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) world-renowned Treatment as Prevention® strategy to curb HIV and AIDS—will roll out across all BC regional health authorities in 2019.
“World renowned HIV/AIDS researcher and advocate for Treatment as Prevention®, BC-CfE Executive Director and Physician-in-Chief, UBC University Killam Professor in Medicine, Dr. Julio Montaner will receive the Senate 150th Anniversary Medal. The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) at Providence Health Care is proud to announce Dr. Montaner is being recognized for his exemplary leadership and lifelong contribution to improving the health and lives of British Columbians.
“(Vancouver, BC | March 21, 2019) A study from the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) uncovered new opportunities in the health care system to diagnose individuals living with HIV. In 2017, nearly a quarter of those diagnosed with HIV in BC had a CD4 count that was low, a major indicator of a weakened immune system and advanced HIV disease.
The publication “Emergent drug resistance with integrase strand transfer inhibitor-based regimens” (AIDS; June 2017) received an award for being the most highly cited full article in 2018 in the category of Clinical Science, published in AIDS.
“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).
“VANCOUVER, BC Tuesday 31 March 2020 – Dr. Jeffrey Joy, senior research scientist with the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) and assistant professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia, is leading a team of researchers in the fight against COVID-19.
BOOST Quality Improvement Network is launched to continue to support this key element of healthcare improvement. The focus of the BOOST QI Network will be to strengthen and increase QI methodologies and improvement approaches while continuing to sustain and spread improvement gains made over the course of the Collaborative.
The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) Committee for Drug Evaluation and Therapy (CDET) has completed the evaluation of the available data regarding the use of Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 mRNA vaccines for persons living with HIV (PLWH).
Based on the committee’s opinion, the BC-CfE supports the use of Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 mRNA vaccines to protect PLWH aged 18 years or older against COVID-19 related disease, if they meet current public health criteria for priority groups and if they have no contraindications to the product.
The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) is grateful for the funding awarded by Health Canada’s Substance Use and Addictions Program (SUAP). The $3.6M for 2020 to 2023 will support an evidence-informed innovative Safer Drug Supply Program at the BC-CfE’s Hope to Health Research & Innovation Complex in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES).
BC has been under a public health emergency since the Spring of 2016 due to the significant rise in opioid-related overdose deaths. More than 6,500 people have fatally overdosed since the declaration of an emergency and now, with the concurrent public health emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic, the problem is getting worse with approximately five British Columbians dying every day as a result of overdoses. The COVID-19 pandemic has made BC’s street drug supply more toxic, and access to services more cumbersome; as a result, more people are dying from accidental overdoses.
The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) Committee for Drug Evaluation and Therapy (CDET) has completed the evaluation of available data regarding the use of the four COVID-19 vaccines currently approved in Canada for persons living with HIV (PLWH). Those four vaccines are the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, which are mRNA vaccines, and the AstraZeneca and Janssen, which are viral vector vaccines. Based on the committee’s review, the BC-CfE supports the use of all four vaccines to protect PLWH aged 18 years or older against COVID-19 related disease if they have no contraindications to the product.
None of the 4 COVID-19 vaccines which are approved in Canada are considered to be “live virus vaccines”, and consequently they are not anticipated to be associated with increased risks of adverse effects such as vaccine-virus induced infection in immunocompromised people. The two viral vector vaccines, the AstraZeneca and Janssen, have been constructed with adenoviruses that have been modified so that they are unable to replicate.
The Treatment Optimization of Psychosis (TOP) Collaborative, launching today, is a quality improvement (QI) initiative led by the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) in partnership with Vancouver Coastal Health’s (VCH) Mental Health and Substance Use Services.
The TOP Collaborative aims to systematically share, measure and implement best practices in the treatment of psychosis in community settings. Teams from across the VCH region will come together to achieve similar goals over the course of 12 months – connecting people living with psychosis with the best possible treatment, care and monitoring in their community, while raising awareness of effective clozapine treatment.
The BC-CfE is bringing comprehensive, wrap-around, health care to residents of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES) through the services it offers at its Hope to Health Research and Innovation Complex (H2H). Opened in late 2019 and located in the heart of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES), H2H is a multi-building complex that provides integrated harm reduction, safer supply, and primary care services to its clients with on-site laboratory services.
H2H’s founding was thanks in large part to the generosity of long-time friend of the BC-CfE and ardent supporter Carl P. Vanderspek. Funds graciously donated by him facilitated the creation of H2H in the 600 block of Powell Street. Vanderspek achieved tremendous success in business, and he brought this business acumen to his philanthropic endeavours as well, seeking out causes with the most potential for success and which would generate the most positive impacts on underserved communities.
Read more information on The Hope to Health Research & Innovation Centre
The latest available figures released by the B.C. Coroners Service show a record death toll from illicit drug overdoses through the first ten months of 2021. 1,782 people died, surpassing the 1,765 deaths recorded in 2020.
The data from November and December are not available yet but we know October in BC saw a single month record high of 201 illicit drug overdose fatalities. These deaths occurred in all age groups and in every local health area in the province.