This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
Prep to become available on NHS from England
The NHS in England has announced it will finally give people a drug to reduce the risk of contracting HIV, from September.
The announcement comes after NHS England had fought against paying for Prep and took the issue to court last year. It argued, unsuccessfully, that responsibility for paying for it should fall to local authorities and not the NHS.
The drug, pre-exposure prophylaxis, will be given to 10,000 people in a £10 million trial lasting three years. It costs £400 a month per person, and trials suggest it can cut the risk of being infected by up to 86 per cent.
People buying the drug privately has been linked to the first fall in new infections in gay men.
The Terrence Higgins Trust said it was ‘crucial’ the NHS delivered plans to offer the protection routinely.
Scotland has already announced it will make Prep available on the NHS to people at risk of HIV, and, in Wales, the government is also trialling the drug.
Sexual health clinics in London, Brighton, Manchester, Liverpool and Sheffield are expected to be the first to offer Prep to high-risk people. The rest of the country will take part by April 2018.
The trial will aim to answer questions about how Prep should be offered on a wide scale across England.
Simon Stevens, the chief executive of NHS England, said: “This major new intervention should complement and supercharge the wide-ranging and increasingly successful effort to prevent HIV.
"It's another milestone in more than three decades' worth of progress in tackling one of humanity's major health challenges.”
Ian Green, chief executive of the Terrence Higgins Trust, said: “The priority must now be to make sure that the trial reaches everyone at risk of HIV, and that it is rolled out speedily across the whole country, by the end of this year at the very latest - spring 2018 is not soon enough.
"To make sure no-one at risk of HIV is left behind, it is crucial that at the end of this trial, a clear process for routinely commissioning Prep on the NHS is agreed.”
Latest News
16/02/2024 - 12:56
Hammersmith and Fulham Council has created a new alliance intended to clean dirty air and improve residents' health.
16/02/2024 - 10:44
Two million more GP appointments a month are being delivered for patients compared to the same month before the pandemic as part of the NHS primary care access recovery plan according to new NHS data.
15/02/2024 - 10:26
The Welsh Government has provided innovation funding of £380,000 to support two projects utilising technology in domiciliary care.
15/02/2024 - 10:13
The new Scottish health secretary has met with frontline staff at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.
14/02/2024 - 10:27
The North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT) has appointed three new Executive Directors to the Trust Board.
Product Features
UK Building Regulations highlight toxic gas and smoke from layers of paint built up over multiple redecorations as a major cause of permanent ill health or death in a building fire.
Their concern rose with discovery the flame retardant paints most widely used paint along escape routes have been ones which to this day counter-productively use emission of heavy toxic gas to smother flames which rapidly spread along walls if layers of paint delaminate in a fire.
Supplier Profiles
Northwich’s Victoria Infirmary (VIN) Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) has enabled more patients
Adveco, the commercial hot water specialist, announces the launch of live metering of domestic ho
Latest Features
Sarah Greenslade, public affairs and communications officer at the British Parking Association looks at some of the problems and innovations in healthcare parking
It’s easy to assume that the comms team is there to handle press enquiries and the occasional social media storm – but the reality is that strategic communications can make a measurable impact across the entire organisation, from operational to financial, when done properly
