Stephen Fry leads charge against NHS decision not to fund PrEP
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The drug is almost 100% effective in preventing HIV
Celebrity and frequent activist Stephen Fry has said he is ‘frustrated’ by the NHS England’s decision to not provide funding for the HIV-prevention drug, PrEP.
PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) has an almost 100% success rate of preventing HIV infection from sex. It has less chance of working (70%) from injection for drug use.
‘I never imagined I would be alive to see the day when a pill was created that could actually prevent HIV,’ Fry said.
‘It is remarkable and thrilling to witness so tremendous an achievement, but deeply frustrating in equal measure to discover that our national health service has pointedly refused to provide it to people at significant risk of infection from HIV.’
Fry is a patron of the British charity the Terrence Higgins Trust (THT), which works towards prevention of HIV infection.
Every week seven MSM (men who have sex with men) are infected with the virus, according to the Trust.
One patient costs the NHS £1 million during their lifetime, if they live to old age, according to data from 2014.
The same year, it was estimated over 40,000 gay and bisexual men were living with HIV; a quarter of them are suspected of not knowing it, reports THT.
The NHS announced on Tuesday May 31 it was not responsible for the supply of the drug that could reduce transmission of HIV.
Matthew Hodson, director of gay men’s health charity GMFA, told Gay Star News: ‘The NHS’s decision not to ever consider commissioning PrEP is both a shock and a disappointment.
‘Each year, thousands of gay men become infected with HIV and many of these infections could be prevented if PrEP was available.’
The UK has some of the worst rates of HIV infection in Western Europe.
Fry was not the only celebrity to express disapointment with NHS England’s decision.
Christian Jessen, known as Dr. Christian on TV, and an ambassador for National HIV Testing Week, said: ‘As a doctor, this makes no sense to me.
‘There should be no ‘controversy’. This is a drug that works. It will halt HIV, and it is cost-effective.
‘Condom use has prevented tens of thousands of HIV infections and remains a cornerstone of HIV prevention, but it’s not enough on its own.
The NHS will offer PrEP to 500 MSM over the next two years, which Jessen says is ‘tokenistic’ and ‘inadequate’.
Sir Elton John, prime minister David Cameron and British soap actor Charlie Condou have also expressed their concern over the rise in HIV infections.Source: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/stephen-leads-charge-nhs-decision-not-fund-prep/#gs.M9hmbn0
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