Scotland approves preventative treatment for people at risk of HIV

A new treatment designed to help prevent the spread of HIV to people at high risk of the disease has been approved in Scotland.

The Scottish Medicines Consortium has given the green light for the emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil therapy Truvada to be offered as a pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) option to help prevent sexually transmitted HIV-1 infections in adults who are at high risk of being infected.

Scotland will be the first region in the UK to offer a PrEP option for HIV through the NHS, as part of a broader HIV prevention strategy that will go hand-in-hand with the promotion of safer sex practices, such as using condoms.

Patient groups have highlighted that current prevention methods have not managed to reduce the spread of HIV in Scotland over the last ten years, meaning new solutions are now necessary.

Dr Alan MacDonald, chairman of the SMC, said: "Emtricitabine/tenofovir disproxil PrEP, when used together with safer sex practices may help to reduce the spread of HIV, which is an ongoing priority for the Scottish government."

NHS England is organising a large-scale clinical trial to assess the benefits of PrEP before it makes a decision on whether grant a similar approval.

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