AHF exports opposition to PrEP to the UK

In the United Kingdom, PrEP is not yet available through the National Health Service, the nationally subsidized health care system. This means that those people choosing to protect themselves from potential HIV infection by use of pre-exposure prophylaxis must do so out-of-pocket.

The NHS is considering approval of Truvada for PrEP and the BBC ran a newsnight special about this consideration. Supporting making PrEP available was Dr Michael Brady from the Terrence Higgins Trust. And, as it appears that the only opponents to PrEP-based HIV prevention on the globe may be the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, speaking in keeping PrEP unavailable was Jed Kensley, senior director of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

Kensley presented absolutely no logic or justification for his position. He just stated it and then tried to talk about people using it contrary to the guidelines of the US FDA (which, as far as I know, does not dictate UK policy).

There is no reason for AHF to interfere in UK policy. Except to try and discourage any further acceptance of PrEP overseas which could, in turn, encourage use in the US.

And as much as AHF claims that it supports PrEP for those “who have multiple partners and never use condoms”, they went on BBC to support the NHS’ policy of providing PrEP to no one at all. Tis far better, in the minds of the directors of AHF, that those “who have multiple partners and never use condoms” in the UK continue at risk for seroconversion than that someone who uses condoms – well, most of the time – has the chance to protect themselves further.

The more I hear from AHF, the harder it is for me to believe that they want people to stay uninfected.