You will find sa国际传媒楾oday in B.C.sa国际传媒� podcasts on , , , and podcasts.

Dr. Reka Gustafson joined Island Health after holding positions in Vancouver as the medical officer for the City of Vancouver and as the deputy chief medical health officer for Vancouver Coastal Health.

sa国际传媒淎s a general rule, donsa国际传媒檛 start a new public health job at the beginning of a pandemicsa国际传媒�, said Gustafson, who received her medical training at UBC.

During her time in Vancouver, Gustafson worked primarily in communicable disease control, and worked with a team to change the testing practices for the way that HIV is diagnosed and managed.

sa国际传媒淭he entire healthcare system in British Columbia improved early diagnosis for HIV with the help of really dedicated clinicians and outreach teams, made sure that people were linked to treatment early and the result was that British Columbia, has sustainably reduced infection rates for HIV and improved treatment substantially,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淭hatsa国际传媒檚 a pretty unique trend in Canada.sa国际传媒�

On this edition of Today in B.C., host Peter McCully asked Gustafson what are the solutions to help people who are accessing toxic drugs in British Columbia.

sa国际传媒淭he fact that we arbitrarily criminalize some substances and not others is something that we need to address,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淲e need to really look at the legislative and societal framework in which some substances are criminalized and others are a completely normal part of our social fabric. And theresa国际传媒檚 a clear correlation between the toxicity and the harms of those substances that we criminalize.sa国际传媒�

Gustafson also offers her insight into the flu season, COVID, alcohol use and mental health issues.

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