Court of Appeal judgement on NHS PrEP case due on Thursday
The Court of Appeal will deliver their judgment on Thursday November 10 at 10.30 AM at the Royal Courts of Justice.
The National AIDS Trust has been defending their position, supported by the initial Court decision, that there is no legal impediment to NHS England funding the drug PrEP, and that it should never have been dropped from the new drugs being considered for NHS commissioning. NHS England has stated that it cannot legally fund it as it is a public health intervention.
To arrange interviews after the judgment announcement please contact Charlie Alderwick: charlie.alderwick@nat.org.uk or on 020 7814 6727 or 07947 725299
Notes to the editor:
About NAT
NAT (National AIDS Trust) is the UK’s leading charity dedicated to transforming society’s response to HIV. We provide fresh thinking, expertise and practical resources. We champion the rights of people living with HIV and campaign for change.
Shaping attitudes. Challenging injustice. Changing lives.
www.lifewithHIV.org – a resource for HIV positive people
www.HIVaware.org.uk – what everyone should know about HIV
What is PrEP?
Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) involves HIV negative people taking an antiretroviral drug to avoid getting HIV.
Multiple studies around the world have shown PrEP to be highly effective in reducing the risk of contracting HIV. The results of the PROUD trial in England, released in 2015, prove that PrEP works and that concerns about it not working in a real world setting, were unfounded. Read more about the trial here: http://www.proud.mrc.ac.uk/
Most trials of PrEP and the US CDC Guidelines involve taking PrEP daily. A study in France, ANRS IPERGAY, has looked at the efficacy of PrEP when taken ‘on demand’, in other words not daily but only before and after sex. There was also significant preventive benefit shown in this trial.