A 10,000 place PrEP trial was never going to meet demand – it’s time to make PrEP available to all who need it
Alongside 31 other organisations, we are calling on NHS England and local authorities to ensure the routine availability of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) on the NHS in England by 1 April 2019.
That’s why we’ve released a joint community statement [We need PrEP on the NHS now].
The current three-year PrEP Impact trial isn’t fit for purpose. It’s capped at 10,000 places and within just eight months over 7,000 of these are taken.
Many participating clinics are now closed to gay and bisexual men, which means people are being turned away from clinics who are in need of PrEP – some of whom have contracted HIV as a result.
PrEP is almost 100% effective when taken as prescribed, it’s cost effective when measured against the cost of lifelong HIV treatment and care, and will ultimately stop many, many people from becoming HIV positive.
NHS England and local authority commissioners must start the process now to ensure PrEP is routinely available in sexual health clinics by 1 April 2019 at the latest. We believe the PrEP IMPACT trial should continue alongside routine commissioning.
Karen Skipper, Spectra CEO, said: ‘‘We are calling on NHS England to do the right thing and make PrEP widely available in England, as it should have been from the outset for all communities.’’
Read the full, September 2018 revised, community statement, by clicking on the link below, and show your support on social using the hashtag #PrEPNow.