NHS can fund HIV prevention drug
The leading AIDs charity the National Aids Trust (NAT) has won a legal challenge to NHS England’s refusal to fund a preventative treatment for AIDS.
NHS England had argued that it should not routinely fund the pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) drug as the treatment is preventative. It also said that it did not have the legal power to commission the drug and that this was the responsibility of local authorities.
However, the High Court sitting in London upheld NAT's challenge ruling that the treatment can be legally commissioned by the NHS.
The anti-retroviral drug which is used to stop HIV from becoming established in the event of transmission has been shown to reduce infection in people who are high risk by 90%. The once-a-day pill, which costs £400 a month per person, works by disabling the virus to stop it multiplying.
The NHS in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have not yet made a decision on PrEP.
See also: Are you living with HIV?
