The nations and regions highlighted above have adopted Treatment as Prevention as a strategy or have signed a Memorandums of Understanding with the BC-CfE and other partners affirming commitments to adopting the strategy. These include the province of British Columbia; the U.S. cities of San Francisco and Washington, DC; Brazil; China; France; Spain; Panama; South Africa; Swaziland; and the province of Queensland, Australia.

What is Treatment as Prevention?

In 2006, Dr. Julio Montaner, director of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS published a seminal and landmark paper in the Lancet that called for global implementation of “Treatment as Prevention” as a means to dramatically curb HIV morbidity, mortality, and HIV transmission. TasP means expanding treatment coverage through highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART), a combination of antiretroviral drugs that fully suppress HIV replication. This renders the number of HIV viral copies present in a patient’s blood virtually undetectable. In May 2009, the government of British Columbia launched a staged implementation of TasP, which has since expanded to all of BC and beyond.

UNAIDS 90-90-90 Aims to End the Global AIDS Epidemic

The concepts pioneered through TasP have gained international support. UNAIDS has adopted the 90-90-90 plan as an ambitious but reachable target. Under the program, by 2020, 90% of all people living with HIV will know their status, 90% of all people diagnosed with HIV infection will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy, and 90% of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression. By 2030, UNAIDS hopes to end the global AIDS epidemic.

Resources

• Treatment as Prevention Overview (PDF)
• BC-CfE References for TasP
• WHO References for ART in Prevention
• WHO Statement on TasP (PDF)
• WHO Frequently Asked Questions about ART in Prevention of HIV and TB (HIV and TB)
• Dr. Montaner's TasP Presentation from the Feb. 2012 HIV/ARV Update (video)
• Dr. Julio Montaner, ‘HAART as prevention for injection drug users’, AIDS 2010, Vienna Austria
• Dr. Julio Montaner, ‘1st International Treatment as Prevention (TasP) Workshop Overview’, IAS 2011, Rome Italy
• Dr. Montaner's "Treatment as Prevention" Powerpoint Presentation (PDF)