Pubdate: Wed, 13 Jan 2016
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Gemma Karstens-Smith
Page: B6

B.C. EXPERTS JOIN INDIANA TEAM TO FIGHT HIV CRISIS

VANCOUVER - World-renowned HIV experts from British Columbia are
stepping in to help control a massive outbreak of the disease in rural
Indiana.

The B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS is partnering with Indiana
University's school of medicine in an effort to stymie an epidemic in
Scott County where 184 people have tested positive for HIV since
December 2014.

Nearly 10 per cent of the county's 4,200 residents are believed to be
injection drug users, with many crushing and injecting the opioid
painkiller Opana.

The B.C. Centre for Excellence is known for its innovative "treatment
as prevention" approach to HIV, where patients who test positive for
the virus immediately receive free treatment to stop its transmission
from progressing and reduce the chance of others getting infected.

"We wanted to be able to collaborate with them because thus far, we've
not had an HIV outbreak such as what we're seeing in Indiana, in Scott
County, in a rural setting in the United States," said Dr. Diane
Janowicz, an expert in infectious disease at Indiana University.

Combining treatment as prevention with harm reduction and addiction
management has brought epidemic levels of HIV in Vancouver's Downtown
Eastside virtually under control, said Dr. Julio Montaner, director of
the B.C. Centre for Excellence.

"What the Indiana colleagues are trying to do is learn from our
experience and trying to export and adapt this strategy that has
proven so successful here," he said.

The two-year partnership - funded in part by the National Institute on
Drug Abuse - will focus on research instead of treatment, looking at
what factors influence a patient in accessing care or prevention tools.

Since the HIV epidemic began in Scott County, several groups have been
working to provide treatment options, including a needle exchange.

About 130 kilometres south of Indianapolis, Scott County is an
economically deprived area where many live below the poverty line,
Janowicz said. The economic challenges often mean people don't have
health insurance and need to be enrolled in the state Medicaid program
before they can access care.

The centre's treatment as a prevention strategy has already been used
in several other countries including China, France and Panama. It was
also adopted by the United Nations as part of a plan to significantly
reduce HIV rates by 2020.

Montaner said he is convinced the strategy could stop the spread of
the HIV epidemic in Indiana, too.
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MAP posted-by: Matt