Positive Living Society of British Columbia (Formally BCPWA)

The British Columbia Persons with AIDS Society presented its position on AIDS funding priorities to the Federal Government on October 27, 2003. The Society believes that up to that point the Canadian Strategy on HIV/AIDS (CHSA) had been successful especially in comparison to other countries. However the Strategy is no longer sufficiently funded especially given HIV's move into new and often more difficult to reach populations. With 4,200 new infections each year, HIV is costing Canada $600 million in direct future medical costs and if the current rate of infection were reduced to 1,700, $1.4 billion would be saved in the next five years. The Society recommends that the budget of the CSHA be increased to $125 million per year to fund the scale of response necessary to beat HIV/AIDS in Canada.

Constitution and bylaws of the British Columbia Persons with AIDS Society (BCPWA) prior to April 1st, 2001

This report presents the results of the first evaluation of the Community Based Research Capacity Building Program in BC. The purpose of the evaluation was to measure the progress of the BC CBR program in relation to work plans, the institutional environment in which the program functions, the needs of hte stakeholders that the program serves, and the outcomes of the activities of the Research Technical Assistant (RTA) since 2003. The evaluation shows that AIDS Service Organizations and other stakeholders are satisfied with the Program and consider the services of the RTA to be a valuable resource. The program and RTA have assisted organizations in developing research proposals, designing research activities, facilitating and simplifying research issues and tasks, and in understanding and integrating community based research into existing programs and activities. Suggestions for improvement included increased communication with stakeholders to help raise awareness and support for CBR activities, some of which the evaluation itself provided, to inform stakeholders of CBR results and funding opportunities, and a more proactive role of the RTA coordinating and supporting research activities including the acquisition of funding.

The use of Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) among persons with HIV has effectively doubled since the advent of HAART, however cost, lack of information and poor communication pose risks. The objectives of this research are to assess PWA and conventional health care provider perception of the risks and benefits of Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), to describe communication between PWAs and conventional health care providers about CAM, and to elucidate associated legal and ethical issues, to identify recommendations for improved communication about CAM and the integration of complementary, alternative and conventional medicine. Implementation of such recommendations can optimize the benefits and reduce the risks associated with CAM in the context of HIV/AIDS treatment, care and support. Twenty health care providers were interviewed for this research and 49 persons with AIDS who used CAM participated in focus groups and completed surveys on their use of CAM and communication with health care providers. The results of this research is presented along with a list of prioritized recommendations regarding access to CAM, delivery of care in the form of integrated HIV care clinics, funding research on CAM and educating conventional health care providers about CAM.