Thousands of British Columbians benefiting from no-cost HIV prevention treatment: Health Minster

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VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – More than 2,000 people in this province have benefited from the expanded coverage of drugs that can prevent HIV infection.

Health Minister Adrian Dix called BC’s treatment “world-leading” at an announcement this morning.

“There are an estimated 7,271 British Columbians living with HIV today. Preventing new infections and giving people the support they need to protect themselves from this virus is a priority,” says Dix.

“Through the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/Aids, we’ve been providing pre-exposure prophylaxis, ‘PrEP’ treatment, at no cost to people who are at high-risk of HIV infection. PrEP is one component of our treatment as prevention strategy.”

BC introduced that no-cost coverage on January 1st and when the program reaches 5,000 people, it’s believed the province will achieve a greater than 83 per cent reduction of new HIV cases by 2026.

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