The end of HIV in BC?

Medical experts in BC are taking a new approach to reducing the spread of HIV, by testing everyone who has ever been sexually active.

Personally, I think it's refreshing to see a new approach to reducing the spread of HIV. What do you think?

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B.C. aims to end HIV/AIDS with widespread testing

Source: CBC News

Medical experts in B.C. are seeking to have every person in the province who has ever been sexually active tested for HIV/AIDS, saying the initiative could be "the beginning of the end" of the disease.

Key to the strategy is a test that can reveal in less than one minute whether or not someone is HIV-positive, which was demonstrated at a Vancouver medical conference Wednesday.

"Everybody should be tested,” said Ken Buchanan, of the advocacy group Positive Living BC. “Obviously, the people in more high risk situations should be tested more often, but everybody should be tested."

One of the leading experts in the province, Dr. Julio Montaner, says the widespread testing will lead to a very big result.

"Elimination of HIV is possible,” said Montaner, Director of B.C.'s Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS.

New data shows that recent initiatives to offer all B.C. hospital patients an AIDS test resulted in one per cent of those tested finding out they're HIV-positive.

Montaner said that extrapolating those statistics to the entire B.C. population could mean there are another 3,500 people in the province who are HIV-positive and don’t yet know it.

A new advertising campaign also revealed at the conference declares that the testing initiative could be "the beginning of the end of HIV."

One goal of the campaign is to counter the fear of an HIV-positive result that scares many away from getting tested.

"HIV still carries a stigma of fear or shame. It doesn’t have the cache or heroism or struggle that's associated with other conditions," said Scott Harrison, Program Director, Urban Health, HIV/AIDS, at Providence Health Care.

But Buchanan noted that more people might be willing to get tested if the process is improved.

"People aren't made aware when they are testing who is going to get that information. And we are also concerned with adequate, pre-test counselling," he said.

Montaner acknowledges that mandatory testing is not an option, but hopes the public will voluntarily join the campaign —especially because 99 per cent of the test results will be negative.

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Mmmm concrete

This has nothing whatsoever to do with sex or sex ed or sexuality or ... well, you get the picture.

While going through my YouTube account I was reminded of this video of myself at the Eiffel Tower, during my trip to Europe in 2008. It's a fun video and it makes me laugh every time I watch it, so I thought I'd share!

Enjoy!


- Candice :)

Reducing the risk of HIV

You may have already heard that the US FDA has recently approved a new drug to fight the spread of HIV. Clinical trials of Truvada have shown that the drug can be effective in reducing the transmission of HIV. This is, of course, great news in terms of slowing the transmission of the virus.

That said, there are so many factors involved in HIV transmission and prevention, and it's difficult to say exactly how Truvada might actually impact transmission rates. For one, it's expensive, at nearly $14,000 per year. When you consider who is at highest risk for HIV, those people are not likely to have an extra $14k sitting around for this drug. While financial aid is available to those who are HIV+ it is not offered to those testing negative (aka the target market for this drug).

Secondly, trials have shown that it's most effective if taken daily ... and medication compliance isn't exactly a "for sure" thing at the best of times. The article I read stated that even study participants struggled with taking the drug every day. Factor in real life and who knows what the numbers might actually be.

HIV is a complicated virus and has proven to be very good at adapting to its environment ... and becoming resistant to drugs used to treat it. The same could happen with Truvada, if taken by people who are already HIV+. This is yet another potential roadblock. Although people are required to be tested for HIV prior to taking Truvada, there's still the risk of someone being tested before HIV antibodies are detectable in their bloodstream. This means that someone can be taking Truvada but actually be HIV+, which would increase the risk of the virus developing a resistance to Truvada.

Overall, it's a hesitant step, but a step forward nonetheless! Fingers crossed that this drug lives up to its potential and makes a dent in the approximately 50,000 new cases of HIV in the US every year.

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Source:

FDA approves drug to reduce HIV risk (Boston Herald).

Recommended Reads:

Washington Post: FDA approves Gilead Science's Truvada as first drug to reduce risk of sexually acquired HIV

Sex Ed Central: HIV/AIDS

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Back to the OYC

It has been far too long since I've sat down to enjoy the pleasure of writing. I've missed this!

So, to catch you up on my world ...

Mark and I moved into our new home on Canada Day and have been busy unpacking and settling in. On Friday the house was hit by lightening, which has definitely been a challenging experience. We are now in the process of replacing the luxuries destroyed by the hit ... not to mention anxiously awaiting the repair of our a/c as we hit record temperatures today.

However, this post isn't about our new home (more on that soon!) ... it's about the following announcement:

I am pleased to say that I will be facilitating a workshop tomorrow night at the Orillia Youth Centre. If you haven't been following me for long, you may not know that the OYC is where I "started out" with workshops. I am excited to head back there for some thorough and honest discussion with the youth. We'll be talking about STIs and contraception ... as well as whatever topics come up! If you're in the area, you should stop by and check it out tomorrow (July 18) at 5pm!

I'll let you know how the workshop goes!

Candice :)