VCH doctors coauthor HIV study in The Lancet

When diagnosed early, HIV is a chronic but treatable disease. People on treatment for HIV can still fall in love, raise families and lead full, happy lives. They rarely pass the disease along, not even to their partners or kids.

Congratulations are in order for Medical Health Officer Dr Réka Gustafson and Senior Medical Director Dr Rolando Barrios for co-authoring a study in the prestigious peer-reviewed journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

The study shows British Columbia has been increasingly successful at identifying and engaging HIV-positive individuals into treatment following the introduction of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) in 1996, however more remains to be done to maximize and sustain the individual and public health benefits of treatment.

The study analyzed engagement with the cascade of HIV care in British Columbia from 1996 to 2011. Researchers found substantial and steady improvements at each stage of the cascade of care.

A copy of the paper titled, “The cascade of HIV care in British Columbia, Canada, 1996-2011: a population-based retrospective cohort study,” is available here.