NHS England to appeal PrEP court ruling

Yesterday (August 2), thw High Court ruled that NHS England does have the power to commission Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) medication, a one a day tablet that can reduce the risk of contracting HIV by up to 99%.

The ruling came after a stalemate between NHS England and Public Health England, who both denied that it was their role to provide preventative medication.

However, NHS England will fight the decision, a move that has been criticised by HIV charities.

We are very disappointed that @NHSEngland is to appeal the decision on its responsibility for #PrEP. We can't keep wasting time.

— Terrence Higgins Trust (@THTorguk) August 2, 2016

The National AIDS Trust, who forced NHS Englands initial decision to not fund PrEP, blasted the decision to appeal, saying, “It is enormously disappointing that NHS England has decided to appeal this judgment, especially given the wide-ranging and well-reasoned arguments it contains.

“The appeal will further delay clarity in this area, and mean that any potential commissioning of PrEP will not take place for months.

“Following this decision, there will now be a 30-day public consultation on PrEP, which should start almost immediately, and an NHS England committee will consider the case for commissioning it, but final announcements and actual commissioning will be contingent on the outcome of the appeal.”

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