UK doubles PrEP participants

The UK health authorities this Friday said they support a plan to double the number of people participating in research on the efficacy of pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV (PrEP). The authorities of the country are talking about a possible increase in the number of participants to 26 thousand.

The demand for pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV (PrEP) - a drug Truvada, taken by people to prevent HIV transmission - has exceeded all expectations, according to the National Health Service of England (NHS), which in 2017 initiated a 3-year PrEP effectiveness study.

“The specialists provided sufficient arguments in favor of the need to increase the number of participants,” said an NHS spokesman in charge of PrEP implementation, John Stewart.

"The NHS [...] will commit to fund additional places in the study."

Currently available data, experts say, show that PrEP can reduce the risk of HIV transmission by 99%.

In two years of research, it has been established that the level of HIV transmission among gay and bisexual men in the Australian state of New South Wales has fallen by almost a third. This was the reason for the appeals of a number of specialized NGOs and health authorities of other countries to follow the example of Australia and implement prevention in key groups at the national level.

According to the NHS, more than 10,000 people have already taken part in the PrEP test in England.

Mr Stewart pointed out that increasing the number of study participants will help answer questions about the need to introduce PrEP among women and other groups.

“This will help achieve the necessary results during the test and fully ensure the planning of the national PrEP program in partnership with local authorities, as well as protect as many people as possible from the virus,” he said.

The launch date of the national PrEP program Stewart did not name.

According to Matthew Hodson, head of the HIV / AIDS charity, over the past few weeks, British authorities have repeatedly denied gays and bisexuals to participate in the program.

“If we are serious about stopping the spread of HIV in the country, we must provide PrEP to all people with a high risk of infection, provide them with all the necessary information and offer equal access,” he said.