05.08.16
Charity head accuses NHS of ‘intentionally homophobic’ statements over PrEP
The head of a HIV charity has written to the NHS England’s boss, calling the organisation’s comments about the PrEP HIV prevention drug offensive and misleading.
The Terrence Higgins Trust published a letter its chief executive, Ian Green, wrote to Simon Stevens to express his “shock and concern” about NHS England’s reaction to the ruling that it is legally responsible for commissioning PrEP.
The High Court overruled NHS England’s argument that responsibility for PrEP should lie with local authorities on Tuesday.
In a statement released following the ruling, NHS England described PrEP as “a measure to prevent HIV transmission, particularly for men who have high risk condomless sex with multiple male partners”.
In his letter to Stevens, Green said that PrEP can be used by patients regardless of their gender, sexual orientation or sexual habits.
“Singling out gay men who do not use condoms is intentionally provocative, homophobic, offensive and inaccurate,” he said.
NHS England has also said that it can no longer guarantee funding for level three and four priority specialised treatments because of the need to reassess the cost of commissioning PrEP.
Green called this announcement “disgraceful and irresponsible”, saying that the only reason the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group (CPAG) was not able to prioritise new treatments was because of NHS England’s original decision to stop commissioning PrEP.
Green said NHS England was “pit[ting] one patient group against another” and contributing to “sensationalist, moralistic headlines and homophobic statements” in the media.
The day after the ruling, the Daily Mail ran a front page story with the headline “What a skewed sense of values” that referred to PrEP as a “£5,000-a-year lifestyle drug.”
NHE contacted NHS England for a statement but had not received a response at the time of publication.
3.50pm UPDATE
An NHS England spokesperson told NHE that NHS England "strongly denies the accusation" and will respond "as soon as possible."
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