Nancy Chow, HIV testing team nurse
Doctors and nurses at four of our hospitals have diagnosed more than 30 patients with HIV in the first year of an HIV testing pilot. Starting in October 2011, staff at St. Paul’s, Vancouver General, Mount Saint Joseph and UBC hospitals began offering HIV tests to patients upon admission when other blood tests are ordered. Prior to this pilot, usually only those at known high risk for HIV, such as those who use intravenous drugs, were offered the test.
This pilot has shown that routinely recommending an HIV test upon admission to a hospital is effective at diagnosing people with HIV and linking people to care.
More than 3,000 patients in Vancouver hospitals had an HIV test between October 2011 and October 2012. Testing has been well received by patients. Approximately 94% of patients accepted the test when asked by their physician or health care provider.
STOP HIV/AIDS program news
This method of testing upon admission at hospitals is just one of the strategies of the successful four year Seek and Treat for Optimal Prevention of HIV/AIDS (STOP HIV/AIDS) program. The Government of B.C. recently announced that the program will be expanded provincially in 2013.
Congratulations to all of the many staff at these four hospitals and within the STOP HIV program! This expansion of the STOP HIV program is a testament to your perseverance and hard work, demonstrated by the success of VCH and PHC’s initiatives over the past years.
The STOP HIV program started four years ago, as a pilot in Vancouver and Prince George. Expansion across B.C. will be carried out by each of the province’s health authorities with support from the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS.
STOP HIV/AIDS program success
Our STOP HIV/AIDS initiatives have diagnosed more people who have HIV/AIDS and enabled more people to be treated. In contrast, in non-pilot health authorities, there has been an overall decline in the number of people being tested for and diagnosed with HIV and the number of people accessing treatment.
The expansion of STOP across VCH, which will begin in 2013, will mean that best practices in routine HIV testing and linking new HIV cases to care will be available broadly throughout the health authority. This will help to reduce HIV transmission in our communities.
Congratulations!
Again, congratulations to all of you, for the one year anniversary of acute care testing for HIV, and the expansion of the overall STOP HIV program. The expansion is a direct reflection of the initiatives you’ve been a part of, and that is something to be proud of.
For more information about the expansion read the full news release