Judge approves NHS funding for HIV prevention drug

A leading Aids charity has won a High Court battle to have a preventative treatment for HIV available on the NHS.

The National Aids Trust (NAT) challenged NHS England after it said it would not routinely fund pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), which it says is a "game changer".

But NHS England is to appeal against the High Court ruling that stated the body does have the power to commission the drug that could cost it £10-20 million a year.

Despite the judge's decision, NHS England has stood by its statement from March that providing PrEP was not its responsibility and it was for local councils to fund "preventative" health treatment.

The "highly effective" anti-retroviral drug, which is used to stop HIV from becoming established in the event of transmission, has been shown to reduce infection in people who are high risk by 90%.

Under 2013 regulations, local councils are in charge of funding preventative health services, it said.

But it agreed to re-evaluate the decision after it was challenged by NAT.

However, in May, NHS England argued that if it prioritised PrEP there was the risk of a legal challenge from proponents of other "treatments and interventions that could be displaced by PrEP".

Mr Justice Green, sitting in London, upheld NAT's challenge, ruling today that the treatment can be legally commissioned by the service.