B.C.s HIV, AIDS rates hit historic lows 6 months ago. So why are they rising again? [Video]

On Dec. 1, 2023, the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS announced the virtual end of the domestic epidemic of HIV in British Columbia.

“It was a very good day,” Dr. Julio Montaner, executive director and physician-in-chief at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS said.

“That was based on the fact that the HIV transmission within the province had come down to the lowest ever in 90 per cent reduction on HIV new infections,” he said.

“In addition to that, there was a 90-per cent decrease or greater in morbidity and mortality.”

Six months later, Montaner said they started to see a rise in cases again.

“We decided to look deeper into it and we came to a very important conclusion,” he said.

“To make a long story short, using sociodemographic data and genetic data of all of the viruses that are diagnosed in British Columbia, we were able to demonstrate that two-thirds of the …