#Dr. Julio Montaner

[furryalligator]

Canada Post set recognizes modern medical innovators. https://t.co/KZI0m5rt9I #LinnsStampNews @canadapostcorp pic.twitter.com/MSHm4sD53e

— Linn's Stamp News (@LinnsStampNews) September 10, 2020

Canada Post honors the country’s medical trailblazers with five nondenominated permanent-rate (currently 92¢) stamps issued Sept. 10.

The designs show six of the country’s cutting-edge physicians and researchers: Bruce Chown, Julio Montaner, Balfour Mount, M. Vera Peters, James Till and Ernest McCulloch.

The Medical Groundbreakers set comes in a self-adhesive booklet of 10 (product number 414152111).

“This enduring tribute to Canadian health heroes honors their groundbreaking work and brings more awareness to their contributions and discoveries,” said Lissa Foster, executive director of the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. “We can all be immensely proud of the global impact of these pioneering Canadians and our country’s contributions to health, here and in the world.”

The September issue of Canada Post’s Details magazine for collectors announced the new stamp set and described the achievements of each leader.

Dr. Bruce Chown (1893-1986), a scientist, played a key role in developing a treatment for the deadly rhesus (Rh) disease, a condition where antibodies in a pregnant woman’s blood destroy her offspring’s blood cells. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, he established the Winnipeg Rh Laboratory in 1944, and his team paved the way for the development of a protein injection that has saved the lives of countless babies.

The stamp design includes a newborn alongside Chown’s photo.

Argentinean-Canadian Dr. Julio Montaner (born 1956) is executive director and physician-in-chief at the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS. Since the late 1980s, he has authored more than 800 scientific publications on HIV/AIDS. Through his extensive research he has helped advance the treatment of the disease.

Montaner made advances in a highly effective medication strategy known as “treatment as prevention” to significantly reduce the amount of HIV in the bloodstream. His stamp includes a red HIV awareness ribbon.

Dr. Balfour Mount (born 1939) is credited with coining the term “palliative care” and advocating for a compassionate whole-person approach to caring for individuals suffering from a life-threatening illness. In 1975 he founded the world’s first comprehensive palliative care service based in a teaching hospital at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, Quebec.

The stamp honoring Mount carries an image of a person being cared for at the last stages of life.

Dr. M. Vera Peters’ (1911-93) achievements include advancements in the treatment and management of Hodgkin lymphoma and breast cancer. A 2010 inductee into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame, the organization explains the Toronto-born oncologist’s tenacity: “One cannot fully appreciate the impact of Dr. Peters’ work without taking into account the challenges she faced as a female in an era when women were not universally accepted as scientists. To graduate in the 1930s from medical school and emerge out of the 1960s as a world-class figure in oncology is a testament to her dogged determination and ingenuity.”

The background of the Peters commemorative represents her work in radiation therapy.

In the 1960s, Dr. James Till (born 1931) and Dr. Ernest McCulloch (1926-2011) became the first scientists to confirm the existence of stem cells and establish their properties, which has remained unchanged today. Their work has been vital for the treatment of many hard-to-manage diseases and conditions. The two scientists appear on the fifth stamp in the set.

Mike Savage and Dale Kilian from Signals Design Group designed the stamps, using photographs from various sources.

Colour Innovations printed the stamps by five-color lithography. A total of 130,000 booklets were printed. The stamps measure 38 millimeters by 30mm.

Canada Post serviced 2,000 first-day covers for each stamp with a pictorial cancel showing the Rod of Asclepius: the well-known medical symbol of a snake twisted around a staff.

[drug-mythology]

📇:Repositorium

Dieses hier ist eine Sammlung von möglichen Mythen bezogenen Seiten und Artikeln, sowie anderen Ressourcen.

Basis:

Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung: Rausch und Drogen - Von der Abstinenz zur Akzeptanz – Wegmarken der deutschen Drogenpolitik und Suchthilfe (27.11.2020) – Von: Henning Schmidt-Semisch, Professor am Institut für Public Health und Pflegeforschung (IPP) der Universität Bremen: https://www.bpb.de/shop/zeitschriften/apuz/rausch-und-drogen-2020/321820/von-der-abstinenz-zur-akzeptanz/.

Prof. Dr. jur. Dipl.-Psych. Lorenz Böllinger – Die Obsoletheit des Cannabisverbots – Beitrag zur Expertenanhörung, Sitzung Gesundheitsausschuss des Bundestages (27.06.2018): https://kripoz.de/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/stellungnahme-cannabis-modellprojekte-boellinger.pdf

"Argumentationsleitfaden für DHV-Ortsgruppen", https://hanfverband.de/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/arguhilfe_a5_v1.1_screen.pdf (Stand: 20.9.2021).

Mythologien und Drogenpolitik:

🇳🇿/🇬🇧:Julian Buchanan (PhD): https://nz.linkedin.com/in/julian-buchanan-91a86a18/. * Website: https://julianbuchanan.wordpress.com/. * Social Media: https://twitter.com/julianbuchanan/status/1455888083736571911 (03.11.2021).    

🇩🇪/🇬🇧:Dr. Fabian Pitter Steinmetz: https://de.linkedin.com/in/fabian-pitter-steinmetz-1938b045/. * Social Media (Ab: 11.12. 2020): https://twitter.com/docsteinmetz/status/1337448599374925827 (ehemals: “Dr. Pierre Tailleur” bis 11.12.2020): https://twitter.com/DocTailleur/status/1335557994562641921. * Zweitkonto: “Dr. Peter Taylor“ https://twitter.com/DrPTaylor/status/1316673853423259648.    

🇩🇪:Dr. Raphael Gaßmann (ehem. Geschäftsführer der Deutschen Hauptstelle für Suchtfragen e.v – DHS). * Artikel: https://www.freitag.de/autoren/der-freitag/benebelt-ist-vor-allem-die-verbotspolitik; Dr. Raphael Gaßmann – Ausgabe 37/2021. * Weitere Fundstellen: “Die sechs Scheinargumente und Nebelkerzen von Befürwortern der Prohibition“: https://twitter.com/multitalentfrey/status/1445451440231645190 (05.10.2021).    

https://drogen.fandom.com/de/wiki/Drogenmythen * https://drogen.fandom.com/de/wiki/Kategorie:Drogenmythos    

https://www.fazemag.de/drei-drogen-mythen-die-einfach-nicht-stimmen/ * https://www.fazemag.de/7-mythen-ueber-psychedelische-drogen/     

"Die 7 häufigsten Cannabis-Mythen entlarvt", https://hanfseite.de/die-7-haeufigsten-cannabis-mythen-entlarvt/ (03.12.2021).    

https://www.vice.com/de/article/y3p7pk/guide-zu-allen-argumenten-gegen-die-cannabis-legalisierung * https://www.vice.com/de/article/5g44wz/wie-viel-wahrheit-steckt-in-den-ganzen-ausgelutschten-drogenmythen-462    

“10 MYTHEN ÜBER CANNABIS – EIN SCHMALER GRAT ZWISCHEN REALITÄT UND ÜBERTREIBUNG”, https://cannazon.de/10-mythen-ueber-cannabis-ein-schmaler-grat-zwischen-realitaet-und-uebertreibung/ (16.07.2021).    

"Faule Kiffer: Die häufigsten Mythen über Cannabis aufgedeckt", https://www.watson.de/leben/drogen/996656651-cannabis-die-sieben-haeufigsten-mythen-ueber-das-kiffen-enttarnt (28.09.2023).

Historie – Geschichte der Drogen-Prohibition:

"Killerkraut und Mörderdroge – Wie ein einziger Mann das weltweite Cannabis Verbot durchsetzte”, https://www.spektrum.de/news/wie-ein-einziger-mann-das-weltweite-cannabis-verbot-durchsetzte/2069184 (20.10.2022).     

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_J._Anslinger

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Drugs

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prohibition

Hilfestellungen:

🇩🇪/🇨🇦:W.A.SCH. (Wilfried A. Scharrenberg [v. Weiss], Prof. Phil. A.D.), Projektmappe zum Thema “Entstigmatisieren”, auch kurz “WASCH-Projekt” (Waschen/Bereinigung von Altlasten im Volk.).

Sonstige inspirierte Ressourcen:

Mythos #7:

Julian Buchanan (PhD): https://twitter.com/julianbuchanan/status/1456434985896792066 (05.11.2021), “Here’s the research, data and findings”: https://hr-dp.org/contents/53, “Effect of Drug Law Enforcement on Drug-Related Violence: Evidence from a Scientific Review, Dan Werb, Greg Rowell, Gordon Guyatt, Thomas Kerr, Julio Montaner and Evan Wood” (2010).

Mythos #10:

Dr. Fabian Pitter Steinmetz: “Drogenkonsum ist in der Gesellschaft gleich verteilt. ...“: https://twitter.com/docsteinmetz/status/1472267847489445897 (18.12.2021).

Barbara Gegenhuber (M.A. Psych.): “Psychische Belastungen, Traumata, ...“: https://twitter.com/bagehu/status/1472458786367365120 (19.12.2021).

Julian Buchanan (PhD): https://julianbuchanan.wordpress.com/2015/03/23/supporting-rat-park-and-the-dislocation-theory-of-addiction/; “Addiction: A Response to Enduring Personal Pain and Alienation“ (23.03.2015).

Mythos #18:

Dr. Fabian Pitter Steinmetz: “Jene Differenzierung ist sehr unwissenschaftlich. In der Wissenschaft spricht man eher von weichem und hartem Konsum. Kokain kann "weich" in Form von Mambe (Ypadu) und "hart" in Form von Crack sein. Ich würde aber eher den Materialwissenschaften diese Begriffe überlassen”, https://twitter.com/docsteinmetz/status/1671759690345136128 (22.06.2023).

Mythos #28:

Dr. Fabian Pitter Steinmetz: “Die Gefahr der Sucht …“ https://twitter.com/docsteinmetz/status/1348361180444827655 [10.01.2021].

Dr. Fabian Pitter Steinmetz: “Sucht” ist nicht der Grund …” https://twitter.com/docsteinmetz/status/1482965819399286786 (17.01.2022).

Dr. Fabian Pitter Steinmetz: “Sucht kommt von Siechtum …“ https://twitter.com/docsteinmetz/status/1506615180767252485 (23.03.2022).

Mythos #56:

Dr. Fabian Pitter Steinmetz [Ab: 11.12. 2020] * ehem.: “Dr. Pierre Tailleur” (Dr. Peter Taylor): “Das Dopamin-Molekül ist laut NpSG ebenfalls verboten. Die Herstellung, unabhängig von der Methode (also auch enzymatisch in vivo), ist illegal. Somit ist wohl jeder Mensch illegal. Da haben sich wohl einige Aktivisten geirrt...”, https://twitter.com/DocTailleur/status/1026040823903907841 (05.08.2018).

Torrid Luna: “Phenethylamine ... Dopamin”, https://twitter.com/horridtuna/status/1514900561979707394 (15.04.2022). * Gesetze im Internet: Neue-psychoaktive-Stoffe-Gesetz (NpSG) - PDF. https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/npsg/NpSG.pdf * Volltext: “Das NpSG selbst gibt die Antwort: Wenn man in Anlage 1 (Phenethylamine) als Strukturelement A den Benzolring wählt, substituiert »mit beliebigen, chemisch möglichen Kombinationen« von C, H, N, O, und in Strukturelement B alle Reste mit H substituiert, erhält man Dopamin.”

Dr. Fabian Pitter Steinmetz, “Streng genommen sind keinerlei Drogen/Genussmittel/Medikamente legal oder illegal. Es geht in Gesetzen immer um Handlungen wie Import, Export, Besitz, Anbau etc. Koksen und Kiffen sind, sofern das Material zum unmittelbaren Konsum überlassen wird, genauso legal wie Bier trinken.“, https://twitter.com/docsteinmetz/status/1672277169140117516 (23.06.2023).

Mythos #68:

Julian Buchanan (PhD): “There is no drug that might suddenly start eating our flesh. [...]”: https://twitter.com/julianbuchanan/status/1502960852915601408 (13.03.2022).

Mythos #69:

Anonym: „Sucht kommt von Siechen. […]“: https://twitter.com/Darkfloppy1/status/1564955932336996352 (31.08.2022).

Mythos #74:

LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) Deutschland: “Das Zurschaustellen von Drogenfunden ist ein Verrat an den Grundsätzen der Polizeiarbeit“: https://leap-deutschland.de/drogenfunde/.

Filtermag: “Drug War Photo-Op Policing Is a Betrayal of Law Enforcement’s Principles“: https://filtermag.org/drug-war-photo-op-policing-is-a-betrayal-of-law-enforcements-principles/ (2019-05-16).

Mythos #RG-2:

Dr. Fabian Pitter Steinmetz (Ab: 11.12.2020). Faden (Satire): “Wenn Ihr das nächste Mal lest, dass der THC-Gehalt …“ [https://twitter.com/docsteinmetz/status/1444246709811482624] (02.10.2021); https://www.cracked.com/article_31012_marijuana-is-67200-times-stronger-than-it-used-to-be-if-you-believe-the-media.html (18.08.2021).

Dana Larsen: “THREAD ON THE MYTH OF CANNABIS POTENCY …“ [https://twitter.com/DanaLarsen/status/1167941723969900544] (01.09.2019).

Mythos #OB:

Drogen als Medikamente: Wie LSD, Psilocybin und GHB heilen könnten (26.04.2021) | Doku | Einstein | SRF Wissen: “Droge oder Medikament ...“ (ab Minute 27:14); Oliver Bosch, GHB-Forscher, psychiatrische Universitätsklinik Zürich (Schweiz).

Mythos #MIX-1:

Dr. Fabian Pitter Steinmetz [Ab: 11.12. 2020] * ehem.: “Dr. Pierre Tailleur” (Dr. Peter Taylor): “Drogen sind völlig wertneutral - ein Molekül ist weder gut noch böse. Prohibition hingegen basiert auf Rassismus, Misstrauen und Stigmatisierung ...ziemlich böse, oder?”; “Das Pendant zu Sucht und exzessivem Konsum ist nicht Abstinenz, sondern Drogenmündigkeit.” (Prof. G. Barsch)”, https://twitter.com/DocTailleur/status/1025872617868324865 (05.08.2018).

AnarchismusDE: “Alltagsgespräch über psychotrope Substanzen (Drogen™)“: https://anarchismus.de/blog/alltagsgespraech-ueber-psychotrope-substanzen-drogen-tm; "Der zweite Teil unserer Alltagsgespräche Reihe von Sadi [...]": https://twitter.com/AnarchismusDE/status/1586396283128152064 (29.10.2022).

Hilfestellungen:

🇩🇪/🇨🇦:W.A.SCH. (Wilfried A. Scharrenberg [v. Weiss], Prof. Phil. A.D.), Projektmappe zum Thema “Entstigmatisieren”, auch kurz “WASCH-Projekt” (Waschen/Bereinigung von Altlasten im Volk.).

Internes:

Betrifft Google-Blogger: "Wenn man Webseiten bei Twitter, Reddit etc. teilt, wird immer ein Vorschau Element (thumbnail) erzeugt, aber bei meinen Blogger-Seiten niemals. Was muss da gemacht werden?", https://support.google.com/blogger/thread/218287017?hl=en&sjid=7039569166505281267-EU, "My blog doesn't generate a preview when sharing" (29.05.2023).

Umgang mit verwerteten Materialien anderer Autoren:

Unsere Definition der Post-Artikelobjekte zu „Dr. Raphael Gaßmann“ vorliegenden Werke, lautet: „Eigenständige Werke für gemeinnützige unkommerzielle Zwecke“, welche lediglich durch Inspiration aus der Originalquelle kreativ bearbeitet, neu formuliert und teilweise ergänzt wurden. Laut der Allgemeinen Geschäftsbedingungen (AGB) der „DER FREITAG Mediengesellschaft mbH und Co. KG“, Abschnitt: „Zitieren und Verlinken“ von Juni 2022, erklärt sich dieses nach unserer Auffassung für zulässig. Der Anspruch auf Verweise, bzw. Verlinkung der Originalquelle ist zudem gegeben (https://www.freitag.de/autoren/der-freitag/benebelt-ist-vor-allem-die-verbotspolitik).

Ähnliches gilt insgesamt auch für alle verwendeten Text-Materialien anderer Autoren, Beteiligten und Quellen auf unseren Portal-Seiten. Wir sind weitestgehend bemüht, jegliche Originalwerke zu respektieren.

Es wurde sich im Wesentlichen an folgendem Erläuterungen orientiert: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Textplagiat#Uebernahmen-aus-der-Presse.

Erstellt am: 08.03.2022, Bearbeitet: 10.06.2024.

Schlagworte: Drogenmythen; Artikel, Presse, Medien; Artikel, Presse, Medien; Urheberrechtliches, Urheberrechte, geistiges Eigentum, Copyright.

[news-chhondomela]

Pioneering B.C. HIV/AIDS researcher honoured on new Canada Post stamp

Pioneering B.C. HIV/AIDS researcher honoured on new Canada Post stamp

A renowned British Columbia doctor is being celebrated for his pioneering work fighting HIV/AIDS with a new commemorative stamp.

Dr. Julio Montaner is one of six distinguished Canadian doctors and researchers whose faces will grace the new run of stamps from Canada Post.

Read more: B.C. HIV/AIDS researcher up for hall of fame

Montaner, who moved to Vancouver from his native…

[18thvariation]

2017 Semi-Annual Review (Part 1)

I have no idea where half the year went ._.

Notable Happenings (Jan-Jun)

Became immortalized on PubMed (i.e., got published)

Discovered the magic of Bulk Barn

Tea with Cheryl and Alicia at Neverland Tea Salon

Attended the live public forum of CBC’s Fentanyl Fix

Mount Pleasant Craft Beer crawl: 33 Acres, Faculty, Brassneck

VSO: Brahms concert with Kelly and Rollie

Burgoo x Craft Night x Ice Cream making

Tea with Julie and Kevin at Secret Garden

Zombie Ethics/Public Health lecture

Housewarming potluck for Charis and Edwin

Eagle spotting at Boundary Bay Airport/Regional Park

HSC/MSC dinner at Portland Craft

Did the Sun Run (10km)

Attended Dr. Julio Montaner’s Killam Lecture

Launched our group’s first product!

OWL Open House x Reifel Bird Sanctuary!

Saw the Chris Hadfield Canada 150 show

Did the Jug Island beach hike (finding a parking space was the most challenging part)

Did the Microsemi Science Fun Run (5km)

Discovered a fantastic ice cream recipe

Held a cat for the first time ever. Princess Sophie makes my world turn.

Bounced on a trampoline for the first time ever. (^ same day as the cat incident)

Survived outdoor rock climbing in Squamish (Playground Crag)

Favourite Movies

Get Out

Logan

La La Land

Moana

Big Hero 6

Masaan

Neerja

Favourite Documentaries

Sugar Coated

Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret

Poverty, Inc.

The Cove

Requiem for the American Dream

Favourite TV Series

Rick and Morty ♥

Adventure Time ♥

The Untold History of the United States

Lovesick / Scrotal Recall

Foodie Experiences

Fez (downtown Vancouver)

KOBOB Burger (Strathcona)

Neverland Tea Salon (Kitsilano)

Cartem’s Donuterie (Mount Pleasant)

So Hyang Korean Cuisine (Sunset)

Savio Volpe (Mount Pleasant) ♥

Kosoo Restaurant (West End)

Sawasdee Thai (Mount Pleasant) ♥

[hcsmca]

Dr. Julio Montaner receives Senate 150th Anniversary Medal

Dr. Julio Montaner, UBC University Killam Professor in Medicine, has received the Senate 150th Anniversary Medal. Read more from UBC Medicine

[teendiabetics-blog]

Dr. Julio Montaner: HIV/AIDS and a new approach to diabetes in Canada

New Post has been published on http://typetwodiabetes.us/dr-julio-montaner-hiv-aids-and-a-new-approach-to-diabetes-in-canada/

Dr. Julio Montaner: HIV/AIDS and a new approach to diabetes in Canada

[sciencestuffforschool]

Did you know undetectable HIV levels likely mean it’s uninfectious?

Undetectable = Uninfectious campaign started in 2016 to confront the stigma around the HIV infection. It is endorsed by more than 500 organisations from 67 countries.

In three large multinational studies regarding couples in which one partner was living with HIV and the other wasn’t, no HIV transmission to the HIV negative partner was found while the HIV positive partner had a durable undetectable viral load. One of these studies was a large study called PARTNER that looked at 888 gay and straight couples where one partner was HIV positive and one was negative, the results found that if the partner with HIV was on treatment and has a undetectable viral load there was no cases of HIV transmission in either anal or vaginal sex without a condom.

Viral suppression is a HIV antiretroviral drug that keeps HIV from making copies of itself. An undetectable viral load is under 40 copies/ml though HIV cannot be sexually transmitted with less than 200 copies/ml. Once the treatment has begun the viral load will begin to reduce the amount of copies made, it can be up to six months before it becomes undetectable; the undetectable state must be maintained for at least six months to fully reduce the risk of transmission and the pill provided in the treatment must be taken every day in order to maintain the undetectable viral load.

In August 2017 the ninth international AIDS society conference was held in Paris where the global medical and scientific community at the forefront of HIV research and care “announced – unequivocally – that an undetectable HIV viral load means HIV is untransmissible.” Dr Julio Montaner, UBC – Killam professor of medicine; UBC- st Paul’s Hospital Foundation chair in AIDS Research Editorial.

U=U aims to transform the lives of those living with HIV and the field:

Reduces the shame and fear of sexual transmission and opens up possibilities for conceiving children without alternative means of insemination.

​​Dismantles HIV stigma on the community, clinical, and personal level. ​​ 

Encourages people living with HIV to start and stay on treatment to keep them and their partners healthy. 

Strengthens advocacy for universal access to diagnostics, treatment, and care to save lives and bring us closer to ending the epidemic.

Though there are many who are unaware of this campaign it is truly a life changing development for those living with HIV as now can they not only live a long, healthy life with the virus due to previous advances in medicine but the stigma around HIV and its transmission can begin to be reduced.

Sources : 

https://aidsinfo.nih.gov/understanding-hiv-aids/fact-sheets/19/73/the-hiv-life-cycle

https://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/51019/title/Health-Officials-Agree-Undetectable-HIV-Levels-Likely-Mean-Uninfectious/

https://www.preventionaccess.org/undetectable

[djgblogger-blog]

Affordable, universal health care can help end AIDS — just ask Canada

http://bit.ly/2vzbik8

Recently, in a Canadian hospital in British Columbia, the province where I live and work, an older man who was suffering from fatigue and post-operative issues was given an HIV test. He wasn’t a member of a high-risk group, but testing for HIV is now standard in many hospitals here.

The man was found to be HIV-positive. His wife, who had experienced fatigue and bruising, was also diagnosed with the disease. The couple was able to immediately access HIV treatment, leading to rapid health improvement, such as better immune function, even though they’d lived undiagnosed for several years.

This is standard practice in BC, where testing for HIV is recommended for everyone aged 18 to 70. And if people discover they are HIV-positive, doctors can connect them to a program providing immediate, universal access to antiretroviral treatment, the most cutting-edge medication currently available.

Universal treatment saves lives

This process contrasts sharply that of neighbouring United States.

There, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends universal HIV testing, but the Republican-controlled congress is seeking to roll back the Affordable Care Act, which includes a provision that prohibits insurers from refusing treatment for “pre-existing conditions” (including HIV).

Variations in state-level eligibility criteria for Medicaid and restrictions on the uses of federal funds also continue to pose hurdles to HIV testing and treatment, particularly for marginalised populations.

In the US, about one in eight people living with HIV are unaware of their status. Among Blacks and Latinos, an estimated one in five are unaware of their infection. African Americans are also least likely to get HIV care once diagnosed and one and a half times more likely to die from the disease than white Americans.

In the American south, where HIV is on the rise, many cases go undiagnosed. An estimated one in six HIV-positive people in Alabama don’t know they have the disease. In Louisiana, nearly a quarter of people have already progressed to AIDS by the time they test positive for HIV.

Even if Americans are diagnosed, treatment, which can cost from US$23,835 to US$42,714 a year, may well be out of their financial reach. According to the CDC, in 2013 only 50% of Americans diagnosed with HIV had received treatment in the past year.

The threatened repeal of the Affordable Care Act under the new Republican administration could worsen health outcomes for people with HIV.

The UN’s ‘90-90-90’ goal

America’s diagnosis and treatment statistics already fall well short of the United Nations’ “90-90-90” target. To have an AIDS-free generation by 2030, UNAIDS has declared that 90% of those living with HIV should be diagnosed; 90% of those diagnosed should be on treatment; and 90% of those on treatment should show a suppressed viral load.

The 90-90-90 target is based on the concept of “treatment as prevention” (TasP), which was first introduced to the world in 2006 by the director of British Columbia’s Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE), Dr. Julio Montaner.

Years of scientific evidence has conclusively shown that providing treatment to all people living with HIV – no matter what their economic situation or stage of the disease – improves health and longevity, stops the disease from evolving into AIDS and reduces the likelihood of HIV transmission.

With consistent and sustained treatment, people living with HIV achieve a viral load that is undetectable by standard blood tests, at which point their chances of spreading HIV becomes negligible. A study released in 2014 followed 800 couples in which one partner was HIV-positive with a viral load below 200 copies per mL and found that after two years, none of the partners had been infected.

Cost-effective care

Expanding access to earlier treatment through TasP not only save lives, it also saves money.

At the BC-CfE, where I am a lead health economist, we’ve researched how to best allocate resources to improve population health. Our work has demonstrated that although treatment for one person is expensive in the short term, in the long term it is a cost-effective pathway to curbing the HIV epidemic.

The estimated lifetime health-care cost for individuals infected at age 35 is US$343,222 (60% for antiretroviral medications). For HIV-negative individuals in HIV high-risk groups, the lifetime health-care cost estimate is US$101,652. Therefore, each HIV infection avoided saves US$241,570.

In British Columbia, where TasP was implemented with support from the provincial government, there has been a consistent decline in new HIV cases and a nearly 90% decrease in HIV-related morbidity and mortality.

Our research has determined that this expanded HIV testing and treatment could save BC up to C$66.5 million in public spending over 25 years by averting new infections, delaying or avoiding costly hospital stays and enabling people living with HIV to stay in the workplace.

Treatment going global

Such a regime could pave the way to a more sustainable health-care system, which is an important incentive in countries with rising health-care costs.

Today, with a US$2.5 million grant from the US National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), the BC-CfE is providing economic modelling and investigating the optimal combination of interventions to fight HIV epidemics in New York, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Miami, Atlanta and Seattle.

The BC-CfE is also consulting with China’s Centre for Disease Control. Though China has generally low HIV rates, certain regions have higher prevalence of the disease, and challenges remain in reaching the population groups most affected by HIV. The BC-CfE has shown that streamlining the testing process in a largely rural province of China could be a cost-effective way of more quickly connecting people to treatment.

China was the first country to adopt TasP as a strategy to combat HIV and AIDS, in 2013. In 2016, it announced that treatment through antiretroviral therapy should be available to all people diagnosed with HIV.

The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS signing an agreement to support China’s efforts to address HIV, in Beijing. BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Author provided

Since 2013 Panama, Brazil, Spain, France and Sierra Leone have joined China in adopting TasP, as have the US cities of San Francisco and Washington, DC.

There are challenges, of course. Social determinants of health, such as homelessness, unemployment and mental health issues, still pose barriers to care. BC connects especially vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations to treatment with dedicated efforts by outreach workers, social workers and nurses.

Addressing their needs for housing, proper nutrition or counselling first can enable a routine of consistent HIV care. But such targeted outreach is harder to coordinate in rural areas and in developing nations.

Still, interventions such as TasP that meet key populations where they are, rather than require behavioural change or financial hardship to obtain treatment, are one proven path to expanding access to HIV testing, care and treatment.

It is possible to end AIDS. All that is required is the political will to do so.

Bohdan Nosy is a research scientist for the The British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE), which has received funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for research work conducted in the United States and China. Research reported in this article was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the NIH under award numbers CTN-0056 and R01 DA041747. Dr. Bohdan Nosyk is also a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar and holds the St. Paul’s Hospital CANFAR Chair in HIV/AIDS Research (a partnership with the St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation and the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.

[picardonhealth]

Mark Wainberg, dead at 71, was ‘a giant of HIV science’

ANDRÉ PICARD, The Globe and Mail

Published Friday, Apr. 21, 2017 

On April 6, at the annual Mark Wainberg Lecture, the namesake researcher quipped, as he did every year, that it wouldn’t be a “prememorial” event forever.

“At some point,” he quoted friends as saying, “you might not be around any more and then it will really be a memorial lecture.”

The audience members gathered at the Canadian Conference on HIV/AIDS Research in Montreal laughed, and none more heartily than the self-deprecating Dr. Wainberg. Then, reflecting on his advancing age, he turned serious and added: “All I can really hope is we’ll have a cure for HIV – or some other way of ending the AIDS epidemic – before I’m banished from the planet.”

Five days later, the world-renowned HIV-AIDS researcher and activist drowned after suffering an asthma attack while swimming near his condominium in Bal Harbour, Fla. He was 71.

A molecular biologist, Dr. Wainberg began his research career studying HTLV-1, the first virus shown to cause cancer (adult T-cell lymphoma). The co-discoverer of that virus was Dr. Robert Gallo, who went on to become the co-discoverer of HIV.

Dr. Wainberg, who worked in Dr. Gallo’s lab in 1980, shifted his focus to what was initially described as “gay cancer.” He established the first AIDS research laboratory in Canada and set to work looking for treatments. In 1989, Dr. Wainberg and his team identified that the drug 3TC (Lamivudine) was effective in slowing the replication of the virus in the body. It became one of the first effective treatments for people infected with HIV, and a cornerstone of what came to be known as antiretroviral therapy.

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ART was a game-changer, transforming HIV-AIDS from a deadly infection into a chronic illness for many. But the drugs were expensive and most of the infected lived in the developing world. That grim reality turned many scientists into activists, Dr. Wainberg chief among them.

That was perhaps not a complete surprise. After all, in 1976, he ran for political office under the banner of the Union Nationale in a historic election that saw the separatist Parti Québécois elected.

One of his few other forays into partisan politics came in 2013, when Dr. Wainberg angrily denounced PQ plans for a “Charter of Values” that would, among other things, ban public employees from wearing religious symbols including head coverings. (An Orthodox Jew, he wore a kippa.)

Dr. Wainberg served as president of the International AIDS Society from 1998 to 2000. He lobbied furiously to get the International AIDS Conference to Durban, South Africa, whose government at the time largely denied that AIDS was a problem. Dr. Wainberg’s plan – to shame then-president Thabo Mbeki into action – worked. He spoke forcefully not only in public, but behind the scenes.

Dr. Julio Montaner, director of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, recalls that Dr. Wainberg “told Mbeki to his face that it was shameful that he wasn’t offering life-saving HIV drugs to his people.”

“He was forceful and unrelenting. If anyone spoke truth to power, it was Mark,” Dr. Montaner said. The Durban conference is seen as a watershed in turning back the tide of one of the worst pandemics in human history. Prior to the conference, ART was virtually unavailable in the developing world; today, 18.2 million people worldwide take antiretrovirals, almost half of the 36.7 million who are infected with HIV-AIDS.

“When I look back on my career, I always feel that the most important contribution of my life was political and not scientific,” Dr. Wainberg said when the AIDS Conference returned to Durban in 2016.

In fact, over time, the two roles morphed into one. “AIDS is going to be the world’s leading cause of death, so it behooves us all to be AIDS activists,” he said in an interview with McGill News, the university’s alumni publication, in 2000.

But, in recent years, he had dedicated himself to the lab again, convinced that advances in genomics could help defeat AIDS. His work identifying mutations in the HIV genome led him to believe that replication of the virus could be blocked and patients cured of HIV.

Mark Wainberg was born in Montreal on April 21, 1945, to Abraham, who worked for a glassware company, and Fay (née Hafner) Wainberg, who worked in the insurance industry. He attended Outremont High and then McGill University, where he earned a bachelor of science degree in 1966. He then completed a PhD in molecular biology at Columbia University in New York in 1972, and did postdoctoral research at Hadassah Medical School of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Dr. Wainberg was hired at McGill in 1974 and remained affiliated with the university for his entire career. He was the long-time head of the McGill AIDS Centre and the head of AIDS Research at the Jewish General Hospital’s Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research.When news of his death spread, tributes poured in from around the world.

“Mark Wainberg was a giant of HIV science. His work contributed to saving millions of lives,” said Michel Sibidé, executive director of UNAIDS.

Dr. Roderick McInnes, acting president of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and director of the Lady Davis Institute, said: “The 35 million people living with HIV-AIDS are indebted to Mark because, without him, many of them would not be alive today.” He described Dr. Wainberg as a “politician-scientist,” someone who combined scientific excellence with a social conscience.”

Linda-Gail Bekker, president of the International AIDS Society, was even more succinct: “Mark was a true mensch and a great scientist, and an even better friend.”

Dr. Wainberg was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame in 2015. In its citation, the CMHF said he “revolutionized our understanding of HIV/AIDS at a medical, epidemiological and clinical level.” He garnered many other honours over the years. Dr. Wainberg was an officer of the Order of Canada, an officer of the Ordre National du Québec, and a chevalier in the Légion d’Honneur of France. He was awarded the Killam Prize in Health Sciences, one of the country’s top scientific prizes. He was also a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

Dr. Wainberg’s son Zev, who is an associate professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, said his father was a “complicated, humble, brilliant man.” In addition to his professional accomplishments, he was a deeply religious man. While raised in a secular Jewish family, he embraced Judaism during the time he spent studying in Israel.

Dr. Wainberg was also an inveterate traveller – with three million Aeroplan points, no less – who visited 120 countries. He also loved good Scotch and fine wine – and swimming.

“One of my dad’s joys was going into the ocean, which he did every day,” the younger Dr. Wainberg said at the funeral. He was with his father when he suffered a malaise, and managed to pull him from the water and perform CPR.

“I tried to save him, I tried and I could not. I knew HaShem was taking him away,” he said, weeping.

Rabbi Yechezkel Freundlich of Congregation Tifereth Beth David Jerusalem, the synagogue Dr. Wainberg attended every day he was home, said: “Words escape us to describe the great footprint Mark left on the world.”

He noted that the funeral drew an unprecedented cross-section of people, including diplomats, gay-rights activists, scientists, students and neighbours. Judah Aspler, president of the TBDJ synagogue and lifelong family friend, said that while Dr. Wainberg’s accomplishments are many and highly visible, he made many more invisible contributions in his community.

“He was always generous and gracious,” Mr. Aspler said. For example, if an elderly congregant missed weekly services, he would drop by their home to check up on them. Last year, after a 16-year-old girl was stabbed to death during a gay-pride parade in Jerusalem, Dr. Wainberg donated a Torah to an Ethiopian synagogue in her memory. Mr. Aspler also quipped that the gregarious Dr. Wainberg “was always excited to give a speech when invited – or not invited – to do so.”

Dr. Wainberg was predeceased by his parents. He leaves his wife of 48 years, the former Susan Hubschman; two sons, Zev of Los Angeles, and Jonathan of London; and a brother, Lawrence. Dr. Wainberg also had three grandchildren, Jake, Eliana and Julia. Family members said that of all the titles he accumulated over the years, the one that made him most proud was “Zaidy Mark.”

[smallstudiodesign]

Checking out NEW Home of AIDS Vancouver & Positive Living Society of BC. (AV /PLSBC) Finishing #architectural touches to new building's shiny #exterior #cladding #curtainwall | Many thanks to Wall Financial Corporation's Amenities Endowment Fund. Corporate philanthropy role models. AV /PLSBC's New Seymour @ Helmcken St. space within a new state-of-the-Art 15 storey building, plus non market/subsidized housing for those with HIV/AiDS, ubsidized by Wall's nearby 43-storey development. Case study: bonus Density trade off - allows taller luxury view towers for Developers giving back. City Hall & LGBT QMunity work tirelessly for tenacity,intelligence, vision, foresight, strength, persistence & solidarity for all with Private Donors. Blessed be Vancouver & BC. Few places globally offer what we have here, I.e. BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS - run/founded by Dr. Julio Montaner, Argentinian by Birth / Canadian by choice, a true Global Medical Hero & Champion | Extraordinary Canadian / Canadien Extraordinaire Kudos: City of Vancouver's Planning Dept. - Bonus Density Transfer Program, in partnership with private $ incentive kickback to charity / #nonprofit | #socialprofit | #LGBT #community #AIDSVancouver #PositiveLiving #hiv #aids #socialhousing - soon moving back home (here) from temporary space during #construction. #staytuned (at Helmcken St & Seymour St)

[herretes]

Van quedando pocos los lugares donde los venezolanos exiliados o emigrados por la crisis que atraviesa Venezuela, irrumpan en actos públicos organizados por el Nicolato denunciando la mentira exhibida para beneficio del despotismo gobernante.

Hay que dar cuenta de esta diáspora heroica que en Panamá, México, Boston, Sao Paulo, Madrid, Houston, Bruselas, Roma, Suiza, Australia, Bogotá, Lima, Miami,  Fátima, Montreal, Londres,le sale al paso a los personeros del régimen que representando a Maduro o agradecidos porque viven en el exterior de los robos hechos al tesoro nacional defienden lo indefendible.

Como ha dicho Axel Capriles desde España “El chavismo sobrepasó los límites de la maldad”. Frase que incluye el centenar de muertos y los mil heridos de las protestas recientes y las víctimas de la inseguridad e impunidad, que con toda valentía ha denunciado desde Nueva York, la gran diseñadora venezolana Carolina Herrera, con el dolor de su sobrino asesinado en Caracas.

La situación venezolana es materia de editoriales de diarios del continente como El Tiempo de Bogotá, Listín Diario de Santo Domingo, La Nación de Buenos Aires o El Comercio de Lima, Nuevo País de Madrid, New York Times,   Le Monde de Paris y el tema venezolano está en la ONU, OEA, Unión Europea, el Senado de Brasil, Parlamentos Español, Paraguayo, Uruguayo, Salvadoreño. Es tema de articulistas renombrados como Mario Vargas Llosa, Alberto Montaner y Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza.

Es que como ha señalado con propiedad mi Profesora de Estudios Internacionales Elsa Cardozo en el diario El Nacional “El contenido de las denuncias y reclamos de la comunidad democrática internacional se ha ido haciendo más explícito, preciso y demandante”. Y de ello es prueba la solicitud que El Vaticano, en voz del Secretario de Estado, Cardenal Pietro Parolín, ha expresado al decir que la solución de la crisis venezolana se resuelve con elecciones. Que es lo que el gobierno evade a toda costa, ahora con la propuesta de una constituyente ilegal, al saber que el 88% de los venezolanos lo adversa.

Esa diáspora venezolana dinámica, ha desempolvado un método originalmente usado en Argentina contra la dictadura militar, mejor conocido como escrache, que es la protesta directa en las residencias de los jerarcas del régimen o en sus empresas. Ojalá no haya necesidad de ir donde la Fiscal Luisa Ortega Díaz para exigirle que interpele a Maduro por el caso Odebrecht donde aparece implicado al recibir 98 millones de dólares para la campaña electoral de Hugo Chávez en el 2012.

Está claro, como ha recordado Paulina Gamus en un magnifico artículo, que irá a la cárcel Maduro y sus secuaces, pero no sus hijos, porque como dijera Andrés Eloy Blanco en uno de sus versos: “Por mí, ni un odio, hijo mío, ni un solo rencor por mí. No derramar ni la sangre de un colibrí, ni andar cobrándole la cuenta del padre ruin. Y no olvidar que la hija del que me hiciera sufrir, para ti ha de ser sagrada como las hijas del Cid”.

DC / Dr. Julio Portillo / Ex Presidente de Academia de Historia / julioportillof@gmail.com

La entrada Diáspora heroica, por Julio Portillo aparece primero en Noticias Diarias de Venezuela.

[yes-dal456]

Affordable, universal health care can help end AIDS -- just ask Canada

Canada is a pioneer in providing universal, immediate access to treatment for people living with HIV. Chris Wattie/Reuters Bohdan Nosyk, Simon Fraser University

Recently, in a Canadian hospital in British Columbia, the province where I live and work, an older man who was suffering from fatigue and post-operative issues was given an HIV test. He wasn't a member of a high-risk group, but testing for HIV is now standard in many hospitals here.

The man was found to be HIV-positive. His wife, who had experienced fatigue and bruising, was also diagnosed with the disease. The couple was able to immediately access HIV treatment, leading to rapid health improvement, such as better immune function, even though they'd lived undiagnosed for several years.

This is standard practice in BC, where testing for HIV is recommended for everyone aged 18 to 70. And if people discover they are HIV-positive, doctors can connect them to a program providing immediate, universal access to antiretroviral treatment, the most cutting-edge medication currently available.

Universal treatment saves lives

This process contrasts sharply that of neighbouring United States.

There, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends universal HIV testing, but the Republican-controlled congress is seeking to roll back the Affordable Care Act, which includes a provision that prohibits insurers from refusing treatment for "pre-existing conditions" (including HIV).

Variations in state-level eligibility criteria for Medicaid and restrictions on the uses of federal funds also continue to pose hurdles to HIV testing and treatment, particularly for marginalised populations.

In the US, about one in eight people living with HIV are unaware of their status. Among Blacks and Latinos, an estimated one in five are unaware of their infection. African Americans are also least likely to get HIV care once diagnosed and one and a half times more likely to die from the disease than white Americans.

In the American south, where HIV is on the rise, many cases go undiagnosed. An estimated one in six HIV-positive people in Alabama don't know they have the disease. In Louisiana, nearly a quarter of people have already progressed to AIDS by the time they test positive for HIV.

Even if Americans are diagnosed, treatment, which can cost from US$23,835 to US$42,714 a year, may well be out of their financial reach. According to the CDC, in 2013 only 50% of Americans diagnosed with HIV had received treatment in the past year.

The threatened repeal of the Affordable Care Act under the new Republican administration could worsen health outcomes for people with HIV.

The UN's '90-90-90' goal

America's diagnosis and treatment statistics already fall well short of the United Nations' "90-90-90" target. To have an AIDS-free generation by 2030, UNAIDS has declared that 90% of those living with HIV should be diagnosed; 90% of those diagnosed should be on treatment; and 90% of those on treatment should show a suppressed viral load.

The 90-90-90 target is based on the concept of "treatment as prevention" (TasP), which was first introduced to the world in 2006 by the director of British Columbia's Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE), Dr. Julio Montaner.

Years of scientific evidence has conclusively shown that providing treatment to all people living with HIV - no matter what their economic situation or stage of the disease - improves health and longevity, stops the disease from evolving into AIDS and reduces the likelihood of HIV transmission.

With consistent and sustained treatment, people living with HIV achieve a viral load that is undetectable by standard blood tests, at which point their chances of spreading HIV becomes negligible. A study released in 2014 followed 800 couples in which one partner was HIV-positive with a viral load below 200 copies per mL and found that after two years, none of the partners had been infected.

Cost-effective care

Expanding access to earlier treatment through TasP not only save lives, it also saves money.

At the BC-CfE, where I am a lead health economist, we've researched how to best allocate resources to improve population health. Our work has demonstrated that although treatment for one person is expensive in the short term, in the long term it is a cost-effective pathway to curbing the HIV epidemic.

The estimated lifetime health-care cost for individuals infected at age 35 is US$343,222 (60% for antiretroviral medications). For HIV-negative individuals in HIV high-risk groups, the lifetime health-care cost estimate is US$101,652. Therefore, each HIV infection avoided saves US$241,570.

In British Columbia, where TasP was implemented with support from the provincial government, there has been a consistent decline in new HIV cases and a nearly 90% decrease in HIV-related morbidity and mortality.

Our research has determined that this expanded HIV testing and treatment could save BC up to C$66.5 million in public spending over 25 years by averting new infections, delaying or avoiding costly hospital stays and enabling people living with HIV to stay in the workplace.

Treatment going global

Such a regime could pave the way to a more sustainable health-care system, which is an important incentive in countries with rising health-care costs.

Today, with a US$2.5 million grant from the US National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), the BC-CfE is providing economic modelling and investigating the optimal combination of interventions to fight HIV epidemics in New York, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Miami, Atlanta and Seattle.

The BC-CfE is also consulting with China's Centre for Disease Control. Though China has generally low HIV rates, certain regions have higher prevalence of the disease, and challenges remain in reaching the population groups most affected by HIV. The BC-CfE has shown that streamlining the testing process in a largely rural province of China could be a cost-effective way of more quickly connecting people to treatment.

China was the first country to adopt TasP as a strategy to combat HIV and AIDS, in 2013. In 2016, it announced that treatment through antiretroviral therapy should be available to all people diagnosed with HIV.

Since 2013 Panama, Brazil, Spain, France and Sierra Leone have joined China in adopting TasP, as have the US cities of San Francisco and Washington, DC.

There are challenges, of course. Social determinants of health, such as homelessness, unemployment and mental health issues, still pose barriers to care. BC connects especially vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations to treatment with dedicated efforts by outreach workers, social workers and nurses.

Addressing their needs for housing, proper nutrition or counselling first can enable a routine of consistent HIV care. But such targeted outreach is harder to coordinate in rural areas and in developing nations.

Still, interventions such as TasP that meet key populations where they are, rather than require behavioural change or financial hardship to obtain treatment, are one proven path to expanding access to HIV testing, care and treatment.

It is possible to end AIDS. All that is required is the political will to do so.

Bohdan Nosyk, Associate Professor and Endowed Chair, Economics of HIV/AIDS at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

from http://ift.tt/2kabyjY from Blogger http://ift.tt/2jMz1sO

[imreviewblog]

Affordable, universal health care can help end AIDS -- just ask Canada

Canada is a pioneer in providing universal, immediate access to treatment for people living with HIV. Chris Wattie/Reuters Bohdan Nosyk, Simon Fraser University

Recently, in a Canadian hospital in British Columbia, the province where I live and work, an older man who was suffering from fatigue and post-operative issues was given an HIV test. He wasn't a member of a high-risk group, but testing for HIV is now standard in many hospitals here.

The man was found to be HIV-positive. His wife, who had experienced fatigue and bruising, was also diagnosed with the disease. The couple was able to immediately access HIV treatment, leading to rapid health improvement, such as better immune function, even though they'd lived undiagnosed for several years.

This is standard practice in BC, where testing for HIV is recommended for everyone aged 18 to 70. And if people discover they are HIV-positive, doctors can connect them to a program providing immediate, universal access to antiretroviral treatment, the most cutting-edge medication currently available.

Universal treatment saves lives

This process contrasts sharply that of neighbouring United States.

There, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends universal HIV testing, but the Republican-controlled congress is seeking to roll back the Affordable Care Act, which includes a provision that prohibits insurers from refusing treatment for "pre-existing conditions" (including HIV).

Variations in state-level eligibility criteria for Medicaid and restrictions on the uses of federal funds also continue to pose hurdles to HIV testing and treatment, particularly for marginalised populations.

In the US, about one in eight people living with HIV are unaware of their status. Among Blacks and Latinos, an estimated one in five are unaware of their infection. African Americans are also least likely to get HIV care once diagnosed and one and a half times more likely to die from the disease than white Americans.

In the American south, where HIV is on the rise, many cases go undiagnosed. An estimated one in six HIV-positive people in Alabama don't know they have the disease. In Louisiana, nearly a quarter of people have already progressed to AIDS by the time they test positive for HIV.

Even if Americans are diagnosed, treatment, which can cost from US$23,835 to US$42,714 a year, may well be out of their financial reach. According to the CDC, in 2013 only 50% of Americans diagnosed with HIV had received treatment in the past year.

The threatened repeal of the Affordable Care Act under the new Republican administration could worsen health outcomes for people with HIV.

The UN's '90-90-90' goal

America's diagnosis and treatment statistics already fall well short of the United Nations' "90-90-90" target. To have an AIDS-free generation by 2030, UNAIDS has declared that 90% of those living with HIV should be diagnosed; 90% of those diagnosed should be on treatment; and 90% of those on treatment should show a suppressed viral load.

The 90-90-90 target is based on the concept of "treatment as prevention" (TasP), which was first introduced to the world in 2006 by the director of British Columbia's Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE), Dr. Julio Montaner.

Years of scientific evidence has conclusively shown that providing treatment to all people living with HIV - no matter what their economic situation or stage of the disease - improves health and longevity, stops the disease from evolving into AIDS and reduces the likelihood of HIV transmission.

With consistent and sustained treatment, people living with HIV achieve a viral load that is undetectable by standard blood tests, at which point their chances of spreading HIV becomes negligible. A study released in 2014 followed 800 couples in which one partner was HIV-positive with a viral load below 200 copies per mL and found that after two years, none of the partners had been infected.

Cost-effective care

Expanding access to earlier treatment through TasP not only save lives, it also saves money.

At the BC-CfE, where I am a lead health economist, we've researched how to best allocate resources to improve population health. Our work has demonstrated that although treatment for one person is expensive in the short term, in the long term it is a cost-effective pathway to curbing the HIV epidemic.

The estimated lifetime health-care cost for individuals infected at age 35 is US$343,222 (60% for antiretroviral medications). For HIV-negative individuals in HIV high-risk groups, the lifetime health-care cost estimate is US$101,652. Therefore, each HIV infection avoided saves US$241,570.

In British Columbia, where TasP was implemented with support from the provincial government, there has been a consistent decline in new HIV cases and a nearly 90% decrease in HIV-related morbidity and mortality.

Our research has determined that this expanded HIV testing and treatment could save BC up to C$66.5 million in public spending over 25 years by averting new infections, delaying or avoiding costly hospital stays and enabling people living with HIV to stay in the workplace.

Treatment going global

Such a regime could pave the way to a more sustainable health-care system, which is an important incentive in countries with rising health-care costs.

Today, with a US$2.5 million grant from the US National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), the BC-CfE is providing economic modelling and investigating the optimal combination of interventions to fight HIV epidemics in New York, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Miami, Atlanta and Seattle.

The BC-CfE is also consulting with China's Centre for Disease Control. Though China has generally low HIV rates, certain regions have higher prevalence of the disease, and challenges remain in reaching the population groups most affected by HIV. The BC-CfE has shown that streamlining the testing process in a largely rural province of China could be a cost-effective way of more quickly connecting people to treatment.

China was the first country to adopt TasP as a strategy to combat HIV and AIDS, in 2013. In 2016, it announced that treatment through antiretroviral therapy should be available to all people diagnosed with HIV.

Since 2013 Panama, Brazil, Spain, France and Sierra Leone have joined China in adopting TasP, as have the US cities of San Francisco and Washington, DC.

There are challenges, of course. Social determinants of health, such as homelessness, unemployment and mental health issues, still pose barriers to care. BC connects especially vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations to treatment with dedicated efforts by outreach workers, social workers and nurses.

Addressing their needs for housing, proper nutrition or counselling first can enable a routine of consistent HIV care. But such targeted outreach is harder to coordinate in rural areas and in developing nations.

Still, interventions such as TasP that meet key populations where they are, rather than require behavioural change or financial hardship to obtain treatment, are one proven path to expanding access to HIV testing, care and treatment.

It is possible to end AIDS. All that is required is the political will to do so.

Bohdan Nosyk, Associate Professor and Endowed Chair, Economics of HIV/AIDS at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

from Healthy Living - The Huffington Post http://huff.to/2kkKj8s

[bc-cfe]

Achieving an AIDS-free World: What will it take? Dr. Julio Montaner on TasP and 90-90-90 target

[picardonhealth]

Pioneering Canadian HIV/AIDS researcher Mark Wainberg dies in Florida

ANDRÉ PICARD, The Globe and Mail 

Published Wednesday, Apr. 12, 2017 

Mark Wainberg, a Canadian researcher who helped revolutionize the world’s understanding of HIV-AIDS at a scientific, medical and political level, has died unexpectedly.

He is believed to have drowned on Tuesday afternoon while on holiday with his family in Miami.

“Canada and the world have lost a great scientist and a great man,” Dr. Julio Montaner, director of the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, said in an interview.

Dr. Wainberg, 71, was director of the McGill University AIDS Centre and a former president of the International AIDS Society.

A virologist, he became interested in AIDS in the 1980s during the early years of the pandemic.

Dr. Wainberg identified 3TC (Lamivudine) as an antiviral, and it became one of the first effective treatments for people who contracted HIV. Later, he also published some of the earliest research on the effectiveness of antiretroviral cocktails.

However, Dr. Wainberg did not limit himself to laboratory work. He became an outspoken advocate for human rights, from denouncing the criminalization of HIV-AIDS, through to demanding that treatment be more available and affordable, especially in the developing world.

While president of the International AIDS Society, Dr. Wainberg was instrumental in bringing the International AIDS Conference to Durban, South Africa in 2000. The pressure exerted by activists led to the availability of low-cost treatments; today, 18.2 million people worldwide take antiretrovirals, almost half of the 36.7 million who are infected.

In recent years, Dr. Wainberg had once again returned to the lab. His work identifying mutations in the HIV genome led him to believe replication of the virus could be blocked with medication and patients cured of HIV.

In 2015, Dr. Wainberg was named to the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame for his contributions to medicine and “for having made the world a better place.”

He is also an officer of the Order of Canada, an officer of the Ordre national du Québec, and a Chevalier in the Legion d’Honneur of France.

Miguel De La Rosa, acting chief of the Bal Harbour Police Department in suburban Miami, said they responded to a 911 call on Tuesday after Dr. Wainberg was pulled unconscious from the water.

Police said that a family member, after losing sight of Dr. Wainberg, swam out to help; he and bystanders pulled him to the beach. Paramedics performed CPR, but he was declared dead at the hospital. It is unclear if he died from drowning or another reason.

Because it is Passover, the family was unavailable for comment.

Dr. Wainberg, a life-long Montrealer, graduated from McGill University with a bachelor of science in 1966, then went on to complete a Ph.D. from Columbia University and do postdoctoral research at Hadassah Medical School of Hebrew University before returning to his alma mater, McGill.

[bc-cfe]

Ottawa shunning B.C. lead on #AIDS https://shar.es/1sMofM