Patients admitted to the Port Alberni hospital will now have an option to have their blood tested for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
Starting Oct.5, all patients admitted to West Coast General Hospital will be offered an HIV test as part of their admission blood work.
The test will only be done with the patient’s consent.
This is the first time a hospital will offer such routine testing on Vancouver Island.
Similar routine testing has been in place as part of a pilot project in Vancouver since 2011. The data has shown 94 per cent of patients at three major hospitals — St. Paul’s Hospital, Mount Saint Joseph and Vancouver General Hospital — accepted an HIV test when offered one.
“The vast majority of individuals see the value and want the test undertaken,” says Medical Health Officer for the Central Island Dr. Paul Hasselback.
Hasselback says new provincial guidelines on HIV testing stipulate that a test should be administered whenever there is a change of health status.
“An admission to hospital is a pretty good indicator that there has been a change in health status,” says Hasselback. “It is an appropriate location and time to have a test done.”
The provincial guidelines also suggest anyone over the age of 18 would benefit from having an HIV test. Those who are not in a high risk group should get a test every five years and those who have a higher risk of HIV transmission are recommended to get tested annually.
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The test will be part of routine blood work, which is usually ordered for most people admitted to hospital. The results of the test will take one to three days, depending on day of the week and test volumes.
The idea is for the routine testing to become a standard practice across the island some time in the future, but first, health authorities have to figure out proper implementation.
READ MORE: WHO now recommends doctors to start treating HIV patients immediately
The goal for Hasselback and others is for routine testing to help change the stigma around HIV testing.
It is estimated that over half of new HIV infections occur via transmission from individuals who are unaware of their infection.
In B.C., one in six people have advanced HIV disease at the time of diagnosis.
Hasselback says there needs to be a better understanding of HIV as more of a chronic illness like diabetes.
“If someone said, are you willing to have your sugar tested? Most of us would say ‘yes.’ That’s where we need to be going,” he says.
“This is not just about providing a better quality of life by identifying and treating those with HIV, but it also reducing transmission and risk to the general population.”
The pilot project in Port Alberni will be expanded to Campbell River Hospital and Nanaimo General Hospital this fall, with testing at remaining sites on Vancouver Island to be rolled out next year.
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