Study Links Support Services and Harm Reduction to Improved HIV Treatment Outcomes among People Who Use Drugs

published on May 13, 2016

Vancouver, BC [May 13, 2016] A new study by the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE), presented at the Canadian Association for HIV Research (CAHR) Conference, finds HIV-positive clients who used drugs and accessed support services provided by the Dr. Peter Centre (DPC) had better results from HIV treatment than study participants who were not accessing DPC services. The link between use of DPC services and suppressed viral load may be due, in large part, to programs offered by the DPC to clients living with HIV including a meal program, counselling, art therapy and nursing services.

The study included data from 746 HIV-positive people who use drugs in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (followed from 2005–2014). At the beginning of the study, more than half of the people using the DPC (52%) had undetectable viral load, compared with 35% not accessing DPC services. On a global scale, fewer than 15% of HIV-positive people who use drugs have ever been prescribed HIV treatment. A suppressed or undetectable viral load is below the limit of detection of standard blood tests. This indicates transmission is very unlikely.

Using a model of care based on the principles of harm reduction, the DPC also offers supervised injection. In January, it became the second publicly-sanctioned supervised injection facility (SIF) in North America, after Vancouver’s Insite. According to BC-CfE research, people who use SIFs are 30% more likely to enter detox programs and 70% less likely to share needles.

With support from the provincial government, British Columbia is the only one province in Canada to have implemented a Treatment as Prevention (TasP) strategy. BC is also the only province to see a consistent decline in new HIV cases. All HIV treatment, including medications, is provided provincially and offered immediately upon diagnosis with HIV.

Implementing the TasP approach—alongside harm reduction measures like methadone, distribution of sterile syringes and supervised injection services—has led to a 90% decrease in AIDS cases and HIV mortality among HIV-infected people who use injection drugs in the province since 1994. The province has seen an overall decrease of 65% in the number of new HIV cases.

“Among particularly hard-to-reach groups, including people who use injection drugs, offering wrap-around services such as housing and access to nutritious meals and supervised injection helps to build a network of opportunities for engaging in care,” said Dr. Julio Montaner, Director of the BC-CfE. “This new study adds to the growing body of evidence demonstrating that providing a range of supports, including harm reduction and evidence-based health care, helps people who use drugs to fully benefit from HIV treatment.”

“This study validates our experience at the Dr. Peter Centre,” said Maxine Davis, Executive Director of the Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation. “Persons living with significant health and social issues, such as mental illness and addictions, are able to sustain their engagement in HIV treatment when they are supported in a safe and comfortable therapeutic environment with access to a broad range of harm reduction, including nurse-supervised injection.”

“The study results further support our plans to integrate a supervised injection service,” said Lynne Raskin, CEO of Toronto’s South Riverdale Community Health Centre. “The service will additionally engage clients in our broad range of health care and social services to improve their overall health, prevent overdose deaths, and enhance their adherence to HIV and other infectious disease treatments.”

The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) is Canada’s largest HIV/AIDS research, treatment and education facility and is internationally recognized as an innovative world leader in combating HIV/AIDS and related diseases. The BC-CfE is based at St. Paul’s Hospital, Providence Health Care, a teaching hospital of the University of British Columbia. The BC-CfE works in close collaboration with key provincial stakeholders, including government, health authorities, health care providers, academics from other institutions, and the community to decrease the health burden of HIV and AIDS. By developing, monitoring and disseminating comprehensive research and treatment programs for HIV and related illnesses, the BC-CfE helps improve the health of British Columbians.

The Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation provides compassionate HIV care to people living with complex health and social issues including mental illness, addictions, poverty and homelessness. The Centre uses an integrated model to engage individuals in their health care with a specific goal of improved adherence to HIV treatment and overall improved health.

For additional information or to request interviews, please contact:

Caroline Dobuzinskis, BC-CfE
Cell: 604-366-6540
Phone: 604-682-2344 ext. 66536
Email: cdobuzin@cfenet.ubc.ca

Kathryn Sutton, Dr. Peter Centre
Cell: 604-723-7411
Email: ksutton@drpeter.org

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BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS

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Study Links Support Services and Harm Reduction to Improved HIV Treatment Outcomes among People Who Use Drugs

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