Mind the Gap: Health Services Research to Improve Access to HIV Care And Treatment in BC

We often hear that HIV is now considered a manageable chronic disease; however that is not solely a result of modern antiretroviral therapy, which promises fewer side-effects and higher efficacy. While the treatment has improved significantly, we have also learned valuable lessons about how to best design health services for people living with HIV. These lessons about how to better reach and support under-served communities can be applied to other fields, such as hepatitis C. This lecture will provide the audience with a brief history of the STOP HIV/AIDS initiative in BC and discuss how the SHAPE/SHARE projects are helping to inform HIV health services and interventions in the province.