Places for London’s PrEP trial to be boosted by 60 per cent.
Today (Friday 12 April) London Councils has announced that an agreement has been reached to increase places on the PrEP trial by over 4,000 places.
The news comes as over two-thirds of sites in London are now closed to gay and bisexual men. The boost still leaves the capital lagging behind many other parts of England which have agreed to double places on the trial.
“Withholding access is simply not an option”
Debbie Laycock, Head of Policy at Terrence Higgins Trust, said, “Finally the stalemate on PrEP has been broken and some leadership is being shown. This is a welcome step in the right direction that will provide some relief to those in the capital who have been denied access to the trial. We welcome the acknowledgement by London Councils that PrEP must be available to everyone at high risk of HIV exposure and as such withholding access is simply not an option.
“However this increase is still far short of the doubling of places we were promised by the Health Secretary Matt Hancock over 70 days ago and it won’t be long before we’re once again seeing gay and bisexual men being unable to access PrEP in the capital.
“‘London continues to outstrip every other part of the UK in the number of new HIV diagnoses each year so it’s critical a sustainable solution for PrEP is found. Today’s news is progress but this remains a job only half complete as places must be doubled to address the high demand seen for PrEP. We need urgent leadership on this from NHS England, the Department for Health & Social Care and councils across the capital because no one at risk of HIV should be turned away.”
