Interior Health Authority is making HIV testing a regular part of routine medical screenings with a new program.
Merritt is one of the first three cities in the province to get the Stop HIV/AIDS program. It is expected to start up between September and November of this year.
The other two locations are Vernon and Trail.
Denise McKay, Interior Health’s Stop HIV/AIDS project leader, told the Herald the program could potentially mark an end to HIV.
“I think this is a really exciting time because, for the first time in our history, we have the ability to change the course of HIV,” McKay said.
She said Interior Health expects it will take up to three years to implement the program at all its sites with acute care and community hospital-type facilities.
She said they hope every community physician will offer this as part of routine care as well.
McKay said Merritt, Trail and Vernon were chosen because the organization wanted to have representation from each of Interior Health’s service areas.
She said these three sites also provide a benchmark for how to apply the implementation strategy in similar communities and facilities. These sites also allow Interior Health to take into account the volume of service provided at the facility, which will help the organization evaluate its implementation approach.
McKay said the program will not be housed in any particular place as HIV testing is done at whichever medical facility a patient goes to.
“At either the physician’s office, the hospital or a walk-in clinic, there will be the ability for individuals to access testing through a health outreach nurse,” McKay said, noting there will also be a marketing campaign to promote the program and will let people know the process for getting tested.
Doctors will be asking patients if they have gone for HIV testing in the past year.
“It’s really about going from a risk-based testing model, where the client has to self-identify that they’re in a risk group, to recognizing that just about everyone has some risk factors and so it’s part of a normal screening process,” McKay said.
McKay also said the program is expected to see an increase in the volume of HIV testing.
She said it’s also about education as Interior Health looks to ensure those offering the tests are comfortable in administering them, understand what they need to discuss and know how to support a client if he or she tests HIV positive.
In the past, only pregnant women or people who told their healthcare providers they were engaging in certain high-risk behaviours were tested, leaving the potential to miss an early diagnosis if a person failed to self-identify as at risk or if the healthcare provider failed to ask about it, McKay said.
