Widespread PrEP Coming to Britain - At Last
After years of internecine wrangling and anti-gay press coverage, widespread availability of life-saving pre-exposure prophylaxis - commonly known as PrEP - is finally coming to Britain, reports Buzzfeed.
The UK has already done outstanding work in getting people screened for HIV and getting people treatment who need it. But, Buzzfeed recounted, the availability of PrEP - which has proven enormously effective in preventing people from becoming HIV-positive in the first place - has been held up, except for a lucky relative few who managed to get into a medical trial for the drug.
Buzzfeed recounted the twists and turns of the saga behind efforts to bring PrEP to those who need it - and the machinations of those who, for whatever reason, opposed such widespread availability:
NHS England, who were assumed to be providing PrEP, announced it did not fall under its remit because HIV prevention was under the control of local authorities...
The National Aids Trust took NHS England to the High Court, arguing that it is NHS England's responsibility as it is effectively a treatment...
[The UK press published] headlines attacking the idea that the NHS should provide a pill that prevents HIV. The Daily Mail's front-page headline blared "What A Skewed Sense of Values." Its accompanying story pitted people vulnerable to HIV infection against other patient groups such as those awaiting cataract and cancer treatments. The newspaper also called PrEP a "lifestyle drug" — not a phrase it employs to describe the contraceptive pill.
Despite such wrangling and efforts to stymie PrEP's widespread availability, Buzzfeed noted, the introduction of the treatment even on such a limited basis has contributed to a significant reduction of new cases of HIV infection.
The development was hailed by openly gay singer Elton John, whose comments were reported on by The Times, but the delay has meant that some who might have benefited from an earlier rollout now take medication not to prevent HIV, but to manage it - quite possibly, for the rest of their lives.
In a January 2019 article on the battle over PrEP, the BBC reported on the case of "Ron," a 20-something man who, during a period of personal turmoil, was engaging in "risky" sexual behavior with both men and women.
Ron, the article reported,
...asked about pre-exposure prophylaxis - known more commonly as Prep - at a sexual health clinic in autumn 2017 but was turned away partly because there were no spaces left on the trial.
"They said it had filled up and that I most likely don't qualify," he said about his visit to Burrell Street Sexual Health Clinic in London.
"They mentioned I could buy it online but they didn't really say where to go or what to do.
"They didn't really imply I needed it."
Ron related how the day came when he got a phone call from a health provider that changed his life - by informing him that he had tested positive for HIV.
Said Ron at the time:
"There's probably so many individuals who are going to get that phone call just like I did."