Elevate your local knowledge
Sign up for the iNFOnews newsletter today!
Stigma to success: Vancouver hospital AIDS ward repurposed over lack of demand
Original Publication Date: May 27, 2014 4:03AM
Publication Updated: January 8, 2025 11:06PM
VANCOUVER – A Vancouver hospital ward once so stigmatized it was only referred to by code name is shedding its past thanks to a steady reduction of AIDS cases.
B.C. Premier Christy Clark has announced “Ward 10C” at St. Paul’s Hospital will no longer be dedicated to the disease because it’s not needed.
She says the ward is being repurposed from a place where patients went expecting to die to a treatment centre for a chronic, manageable, long-term illness.
Clark credits the success to a made-in-B.C. treatment and prevention program and the pioneering work of the BC Centre for Excellent in HIV/AIDS.
United Nations under-secretary for UNAIDS Michel Sidibe (sid-eh-bay) says the ward’s transformation is a “defining moment” that should inspire global communities to start thinking about ending AIDS altogether.
There’s been a 90 per cent drop in AIDS cases in B.C. since 1995 and an 80 per cent decrease in HIV-related mortality between 1996 and 2012.
News from © The Canadian Press, . All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Join the Conversation!
Want to share your thoughts, add context, or connect with others in your community?
You must be logged in to post a comment.
