Forty percent of people in the Canadian province of British Columbia who died of AIDS-related illness between 1997 and 2005 were not on antiretroviral treatment, The Vancouver Province/Canada.com reports (canada.com, 2/23).
According to the article, many in risk groups did not access free antiretroviral medications.
A study conducted by the British Colombia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS found that of the 1,436 Canadians who died of AIDS between 1997 and 2005, 567 did not access HIV care because they were facing such barriers as poverty and homelessness.
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A Gelinas, Ottawa,ON, 2008-02-28 09:25:41
I was truely shocked to learn of this study. HIV positive people in the Provinces of British Columbia and Alberta are extremely fortunate to have programs which cover 100% of the cost of HIV meds. Other provinces such as Ontario, where it is estimated about 20,000 people are HIV positive, has NO program which covers 100% of the cost of HIV meds regardless of income, such as those in BC and AB. The Government of BC needs to get serious about issues which aggravate access to HIV care!
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