Important new BC-CfE research, published in The Lancet HIV, shows that the made-in-BC Treatment as Prevention (TasP) strategy coupled with Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) dramatically reduces premature HIV/AIDS-related deaths and new HIV infections.
The study developed by BC-CfE Scientist & Senior Methodologist Dr. Viviane Lima and Executive Director & Physician-in-Chief Dr. Julio Montaner, looked at the impact of three milestones in the fight against HIV in British Columbia – the introduction of highly effective antiretroviral therapy (ART) in 1996, TasP in 2010, and PrEP in 2018. Results revealed that free access to TasP for all BC residents living with HIV coupled with free access to PrEP for those at high-risk of acquiring HIV, reduced HIV/AIDS-related mortality by 95% and new HIV infections by 91% between 1996 and 2022.
“Our results confirm that adding targeted PrEP to TasP is a critical component of an effective HIV prevention strategy,” said Dr. Julio Montaner. “With that in mind, it is inexcusable that we are still seeing rising rates of new HIV infections in Canada. We therefore call on jurisdictions across the country and abroad to implement TasP plus targeted PrEP to optimize and accelerate the control of HIV/AIDS, and thereby reach the goal of an HIV-free generation.”
Further, results showed that when PrEP is free, introduced at scale and combined with an ongoing TasP strategy, it significantly reduced HIV transmission even when analysis was restricted to the limited number of people living with HIV in BC who have a detectable HIV viral load. As such, ART, TasP and PrEP were shown to be synergistic in their ability to most effectively reduce HIV transmission.
For more on this new research, please see: https://lnkd.in/gmDdzZH7.
So deserved! Congratulations!