Court of Appeal rules NHS England has funding power for PrEP

The Court of Appeal has ruled that NHS England has the legal mandate to introduce a scheme for providing preventative treatment for people at risk of HIV.

NHS England had previously argued that local authorities should be handed responsibility for the distribution of any pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) treatments, as they are responsible for preventative health in the UK.

However, the appeals court has insisted this task falls within the remit of the NHS, meaning it would be responsible for providing PrEP to the 14,000 people estimated to be eligible in England.

Responding to the verdict, NHS England welcomed the clarification that the organisation has the ability, rather than an obligation, to fund PReP. Should it decide to do so, this would mean no legal challenges from rival candidates for specialised commissioning funding would be possible.

As such, formal consideration will now be given to whether to fund PreP, with local authorities to be consulted on how NHS-funded PreP medication could be administered by the sexual health teams they commission.

NHS England said: "We will immediately ask the drug manufacturer to reconsider its currently proposed excessively high pricing, and will also explore options for using generics. We expect to be able to update on these developments shortly."

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