Routine HIV tests are now offered at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.
On Monday, NRGH became the third hospital on Vancouver Island to give patients admitted through the emergency department the option to test for HIV. Testing was previously made available at Campbell River Hospital and West Coast General Hospital in Port Alberni.
It’s part of a broader constellation of HIV testing services offered in Island communities, aiming to identify HIV disease more efficiently and at an earlier stage, according to Sophie Bannar-Martin, STOP HIV and bloodborne disease manager at Island Health.
“We know what early diagnosis and treatment can allow people living with HIV to live long, healthy lives,” she said.
Approximately one in four Canadians living with HIV don’t know they have it, and more than half of new HIV infections occur via transmission from those unaware they have the disease.
