Introduction of injectable HIV PrEP opens up access

PrEPster at The Love Tank welcomes today's announcement by NHS England that long acting injectable HIV PrEP will be made available on the NHS.

NHS England will commission the injectable formulation of PrEP - that needs to be taken every 2 months - through sexual health clinics. It will be available to people who cannot use tablet formulations of PrEP - including people who cannot swallow pills and those who are using other medicine that might react to oral PrEP. It is also expected to be available to those who might have challenges keeping pills with them, including people experiencing homelessness or domestic violence.

Injectable PrEP will not be available - at least in the short term - on a routine basis for people who can take PrEP orally.

Dr Will Nutland, Director of The Love Tank says:

"Today's guidance announcement by the National Institute for Health and Care (NICE) alongside NHS England's decision to commission long acting injectable HIV PrEP expands access to pre-exposure prophylaxis. If oral and injectable PrEP is going to reach those groups who are currently not benefiting from it, we need to see continued investment in sexual health services and the settings in which PrEP is available to be expanded".

It is expected that injectable PrEP will start to be available in sexual health clinics in the coming months.