Touting better HIV treatment, Toronto service organization closing after 42 years

An organization that bills itself as Canada's oldest HIV service agency says it will close next year, in part due to groundbreaking medical advances that have reduced the need for its services.

AIDS Committee of Toronto says plummeting demand coincided with financial challenges and broader changes in the health-care system, leading to the decision to close after 42 years.

ACT was founded in 1983 when AIDS was marked by stigma, long-term illness and often death.

New treatment and prevention measures mean people with HIV now live longer and fuller lives, with a third of ACT's service users over the age of 55.

Executive director Ryan Lisk says it's time to pass the torch to organizations that better serve current needs, with paramount issues including access to affordable medications and help managing HIV as a chronic disease.

Lisk says the pool of federal, provincial and municipal funding for HIV organizations has essentially remained the same over the past four decades and that donations have also declined.