The English government announced in March that it would make access to PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) free, from April, throughout the public health system in England. Then the iNews reported in a recent report that the initiative was suspended indefinitely due to the new coronavirus pandemic.
However, according to investigation by the website PinkNews, English public health professionals say that access to PrEP is assured – it will be released in a phased manner, and maintained consistently through various interruption measures.
Some clinics in the country will provide new selection stations for possible new people to receive the pills by mid-July and those who are already taking them will receive “provisional supplies”.
The Department of Health and Social Care told PinkNews that government health officials are “doing their best to ensure routine PrEP commissioning.”
Pre-exposure is an HIV prevention strategy: the non-carrier person takes a pill every day that is already used to combat the virus, and this previous action protects them if they come into contact with the virus during sex without a condom.
