“Obviously, the people in more high risk situations should be tested more often, but everybody should be tested.”
A test that can determine in under a minute whether or not you are HIV Positive may be rolled out across BC, as part of a plan to encourage widespread testing throughout the province. From the CBC:
“Everybody should be tested,” said Ken Buchanan, of the advocacy group Positive Living BC. “Obviously, the people in more high risk situations should be tested more often, but everybody should be tested.”
One of the leading experts in the province, Dr. Julio Montaner, says the widespread testing will lead to a very big result.
“Elimination of HIV is possible,” said Montaner, Director of B.C.’s Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS.
I remember living in BC for many years, and I am very heartened to see a concerted effort to stem the spread of HIV/AIDS. I can’t speak to the rest of the province, but at the time I was living in Vancouver there was extreme localized poverty and drug abuse in the Downtown Eastside (DTES). In many cases, residents living in the area were HIV Positive.
Is this the start of something new? I wonder if this technology could be used around the world to instantly test for HIV/AIDS, and if that could help stem the spread of this terrible disease.
—Photo Jayel Aheram/Flickr