Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to make public decisions on HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis taken at the meeting to consider the commissioning specialised services on 31 May 2016.

Jane Ellison

NHS England’s Specialised Services Commissioning Committee have considered and accepted NHS England’s external legal advice that it does not have the legal power to commission pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). However, work on PrEP is on-going and up to £2 million will be invested in a pilot programme to target those at highest risk over the course of two years.

Public Health England is working to identify the most effective locations for the introduction of this pilot. The Department will be discussing future commissioning with stakeholders.

Our £2.4 million national HIV Prevention and Sexual Health Promotion Programme also gives those at highest risk the best advice to make safer choices about sex.