NHS criticised over HIV drug wait

National Health Service (NHS) England has been criticised after announcing its decision that it will not be providing the HIV treatment Truvada, which enables pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).

The NHS said that it does not have the legal power to commission the drug because it is up to local authorities to finance HIV services.

Truvada, made by Gilead, is still patented in the UK.

“NHS England is playing a waiting game until the PrEP drug comes off patent in 2018 and London Councils and our health partners do not believe it is acceptable to let any more Londoners contract HIV while we wait,” Teresa O’Neill, executive member for health at London Councils, a lobbying organisation for London’s 33 councils, said.

But an NHS England spokesperson told LSIPR: “We have listened carefully to stakeholders, and will continue to work with Public Health England and other partners on reducing HIV transmissions, but our external legal advice is clear that NHS England does not have the legal power to commission PrEP.”

The NHS will invest up to £2 million ($2.9 million) over the next two years to research how PrEP could be commissioned in the most clinically and cost-effective way.

However O’Neill explained that “more testing is not needed and only funding a limited number of test sites with £1 million per year over two years will be nowhere near enough to treat the number of people who need PrEP”.

She added: “In London rates of HIV transmission remain high and it is worrying to see NHS England turn its back on a drug that focuses on prevention to address one of the capital’s most significant public health concerns.”

PrEP is used for treating people diagnosed with HIV in order to stop viral transmission and is proven to reduce the risk of HIV by up to 86%, according to London Councils.