Preventative treatment for HIV can be funded by the NHS after ‘game-changing’ High Court ruling
'Highly effective' drug could stop disease becoming established
A LEADING Aids charity has won a High Court battle over whether a preventative treatment for HIV which charities say is a "game-changer" can legally be funded by the NHS.
NHS England said it had received advice that it does not have the legal power to fund pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a "highly effective" anti-retroviral drug used to stop HIV from becoming established if someone contracts it.
But today in London judge Mr Justice Green ruled that NHS England CAN fund the drug and had "erred in deciding that it has no power or duty to commission the preventative drugs in issue".
The ruling was a victory for the National Aids Trust (NAT), which brought the case to court.
Campaigners have said that while the majority of gay men use condoms to prevent being infected with HIV, there is also an "ethical duty" to provide PrEP to those who do not.
And they said the drug would provide an additional defence against the disease - and would not be used simply as an alternative to safe sex.
It comes after the results of a trial, published in February 2015, suggested that rates of HIV infection could be slashed by treating actively gay men with the anti-viral drug when they are healthy.
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Dr Michael Brady, medical director at the HIV/Aids charity Terrence Higgins Trust, welcomed the findings and described the drug as "a game-changer".
He said PrEP offered "another line of defence" against HIV, alongside condoms and regular testing.
Dr Brady said: "It is not a vaccine and it won't be for everyone, but, once approved, we expect it to significantly increase the momentum in our fight against the virus.
"We urge the Government, NHS England and local authorities to make PrEP a key priority in the fight against HIV."
National Aids Trust chief executive Deborah Gold said the study also showed that gay men "won't just throw away the condoms as soon as they start taking PrEP".
She said: "If we can stop people getting HIV by giving them PrEP, we have an ethical duty to do so.
"Furthermore, over the course of their lifetime the treatment of those 19 men (part of the trial group who became infected with HIV and were not taking PrEP) will cost the NHS nearly £7 million.
"So the financial argument is clear, as is the ethical one. PrEP needs to be available on the NHS as soon as possible for all those who need it."
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