National AIDS Trust (NAT) reveal further delays in London to the essential HIV prevention drug PrEP being made available in the capitols Sexual Health Clinics.
NHS England announced yesterday (April 1 ) that whilst a doubling of places on the PrEP Impact Trial (proposed on January 23) will be implemented in all participating sexual health clinics outside of London, local authority commissioners in London boroughs are still considering their response to the proposed additional places.
The expansion of the PrEP trial was announced without extra resources being made available to finance the extra places on the trial by NHS England/Department of Health.
London Boroughs’ sexual health services are under immense funding pressure, with some having already made cuts to this years sexual health services of up to 20%. These cuts are as a direct result of the Conservatives National Austerity programme of cuts, which is why some councils haven’t been able to immediately agree to taking on all the extra places on the trial.
NHS England/Department of Health have sanctioned these extra 13,000 places on the trial but are the same people who have overseen the cuts.
Yusef Azad, Director of Strategy at NAT (National AIDS Trust), said: “The welcome significant uplift in PrEP trial places in the rest of the country stands in stark contrast to the delay in London’s response. Over half of London’s sexual health clinics are turning away gay and bisexual men in need of PrEP. Men are getting HIV as a result. We now need urgently for London’s elected leaders to take ownership of this issue. We call on all of London’s elected council leaders, all of London’s councillors, the Mayor of London and the London Assembly to intervene to ensure PrEP is accessible to everyone who needs it in the capital.”
Ian Green, Chief Executive at Terrence Higgins Trust, added: “There’s no other way to describe what’s happening around PrEP access in England than as a mess. It’s absolutely unacceptable that gay and bisexual men in London and other parts of the country are still unable to access PrEP for HIV prevention. And while we welcome additional places being made available in some sites outside of London, we’re disappointed that this isn’t happening at a significant number of trial locations.
“The stalemate on PrEP needs to be resolved urgently and we won’t stop fighting until that happens. It’s ridiculous that in London we’re still waiting for a final decision to be made a month after NHS England announced the doubling of places on the trial. Meanwhile, gay and bisexual men who are denied access to PrEP are going on to contract HIV.
“Now we’re once again calling for urgent leadership on this from NHS England, the Department of Health & Social Care and councils to find a solution for both the short and long-term. That means urgently expanding access to PrEP in England as well as committing to PrEP becoming routinely available to all who could benefit. That’s the only way to resolve this mess.”
A London Councils spokesperson responded saying: “London boroughs fully support the PrEP Impact Trial. Well over half of the trial places released so far have been through London clinics.
“We have made clear that we are committed to taking on additional trial places, but this must be delivered in a way that is sustainable, ensures continuity, and does not destabilise other critical sexual health services.
“We are in discussion with national partners over next steps and we look forward to working together to deliver the successful expansion of PrEP in the capital.”
Meanwhile gay and bi men are being denied access to PrEP and are going on to be diagnosed with HIV.
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