Sea to Sky Corridor hospitals will soon offer HIV testing along with routine blood tests — a program that aims to stamp out stigmas around examinations for the virus.
On Oct. 29, doctors and nurses at the Squamish General Hospital and in Squamish-area physician offices will begin offering HIV tests to patients. The option will be offered when other blood tests are ordered for a patient as recommended in the new Provincial HIV Testing Guidelines.
It is estimated that 25 per cent of people with HIV are unaware they carry the virus, Vancouver Coastal Health’s (VCH) medical health officer Dr. Paul Martiquet stated in a press release.
“Although the risk is extremely low for the majority of patients, it’s still important that they’re provided an opportunity to learn their condition and, if positive, begin treatment as soon as possible,” he said.
Early diagnosis and initiation of treatment is a goal of the province’s Hope to Health Program — which guides health authorities on incorporating ‘treatment as prevention’ into current HIV prevention strategies. VCH began offering HIV testing routinely in Vancouver hospitals three years ago. Since then the program has expanded to Richmond, the North Shore, Powell River and the Sunshine Coast.
“Since routine testing began in Vancouver, more than 60 patients have been diagnosed with HIV, which might otherwise have gone undetected,” Martiquet said. “Early diagnosis not only improves patient outcomes, but it also reduces the risk of transmission to others.”
Test results are stored in a confidential computer information system and only health care staff directly involved in the care of a patient may access the patient’s information. As with all medical tests, the patient has the right to refuse and/or ask further questions. Overall, the experience in Vancouver hospitals indicate that a majority of patients — 94 per cent — agree to test when it is part of routine care.
