New PrEP injection approved

The NHS has announced that around 1,000 people at risk of HIV will be offered a new long-acting injection on the NHS if they cannot have pills to protect them from HIV.

The cabotegravir injection, which will be given every two months, will be provided at sexual health clinics across the country which are paid for by the public health grant.

Gillian McLauchlan, ADPH spokesperson for sexual health, said:

“Today’s approval for the cabotegravir injection to be rolled out across the country marks a turning point in our collective fight to end HIV transmissions by 2030. Overall, diagnoses are decreasing, and, with the availability of this injection, that number promises to fall further.

“Sexual health services, which are paid for by local authority public health teams, are under immense pressure and demand for these services are at an all time high. In order to meet that demand – which will undoubtedly rise following today’s announcement – we must see an increase in funding to the public health grant.”

James Woolgar, Chair of the English HIV and Sexual Health Commissioners’ Group, said:

“We warmly welcome the introduction of injectable HIV PrEP technology. This is a vital addition to our prevention toolkit that has the potential to transform how people protect themselves against HIV. We have made great progress improving testing and PrEP access, and this will help us reach even more people.

“There is still a lot more work to be done though and, as commissioners of sexual health services, we will continue to work together with Directors of Public Health, DHSC, UKHSA, NHSE, the voluntary sector and all relevant partners to develop the next HIV Action Plan which we hope will help us reach the goal of zero new cases of HIV by 2030.”