Where Vancouver leads in LGBT progress: Local health professionals are at the world's forefront

published on July 26, 2017 by Craig Takeuchi, in The Georgia Straight

When it comes to LGBT health, Vancouver has been and continues to be at the forefront of medical developments, socially progressive initiatives, and humane responses in the face of discrimination.

A prime example is when the HIV/AIDS crisis hit Vancouver in the 1980s. As the epidemic ravaged the city’s queer male community during an era still entrenched in widespread homophobia, among the first to respond were local health-industry professionals, organizations, researchers, and volunteers from all walks of life. Their efforts initiated a B.C. medical movement that continues to be built upon to this day.

Among the forerunners was Dr. Peter Jepson-Young, a local doctor who was diagnosed with advanced AIDS in 1986. With the CBC TV series The Dr. Peter Diaries, he provided audiences with a much-needed intimate view of the then little understood and highly stigmatized condition. Before he died in 1992, he launched the Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation, which, in turn, opened the Dr. Peter Centre in 2003.

The notable number of locally based HIV organizations includes the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, AIDS Vancouver, YouthCO, Positive Living B.C., A Loving Spoonful, the Pacific AIDS Network, the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network, and the Positive Women’s Network (which is closing after 25 years).

View the full article >>

Tags:

Treatment as Prevention®

Julio Montaner

BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS

Search form

Where Vancouver leads in LGBT progress: Local health professionals are at the world's forefront

Search form