New UK report calls for PrEP to be made more widely available through community pharmacies
A new report from the UK’s Terrance Higgins Trust, the country’s leading HIV charity, has called on a radical change to way PrEP treatment is prescribed arguing it could make a big impact on the spread of HIV.
Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) is a medication used to reduce the risk of contracting HIV. When taken as prescribed, PrEP can reduce your risk of getting HIV by up to almost 100%.
The report sets out a clear case – and detailed mechanism – for making HIV prevention medication, PrEP, available through community pharmacies in England in 2026.
Authored by Deborah Gold, the report argues that enabling trained community pharmacists to provide PrEP would significantly widen access, reduce health inequalities, and ease pressure on overstretched sexual health clinics.
Currently, most people in the UK access PrEP through sexual health services, but the report highlights that many people at risk of HIV either cannot or will not attend clinics due to stigma, distance, inflexible opening hours, or competing responsibilities.
Community pharmacies, which are widely used, locally based and open for longer hours, could offer a more convenient and discreet route. This could be a game changer for rural gay and bisexual men and Black communities across the country.
The United Kingdom, like Australia, is attempting to reach the goal of virtually no new cases of HIV by 2030, and the charity argues that a new approach would help reach those identified at being the hard to reach populations at risk of contracting the virus.
“We already know that PrEP works and that it is highly cost-effective. What this report shows is that the way PrEP is currently delivered is leaving too many people behind. Community pharmacies are trusted, accessible and embedded in communities. With the right policy changes, they could play a transformative role in HIV prevention and help close the gaps in access that persist today.” Deborah Gold said.
Richard Angell, Chief Executive of Terrence Higgins Trust, said new approaches were needed urging the government to take up the option.
“2026 is going to be another game changer for HIV prevention. England has made huge progress on HIV, but we won’t reach zero new cases unless we radically widen access to PrEP.
“This report shows that community pharmacies could be a game-changer, especially for people who don’t see sexual health clinics as accessible or welcoming. Ministers and NHS leaders must now act on these recommendations so that PrEP is available in the places people already go for care.” Angell said.
The report notes that there a study from the University of Bristol demonstrated how the approach could work through a pilot project. Led by Professor Jeremy Horwood and Dr China Harrison it explored how a potential system might work.
Their research showed that it would be necessary to improve pharmacy staffs knowledge, training and skills as there was a lack of understanding of PrEP, and that there would also need to be a substantial promotional campaign to reach potential clients.
The phrase ‘The Last Mile’ grew out of the telecommunications industry where they discovered connecting individual properties to networks was the most challenging task.
In the journey of HIV, Australia is looking down The Last Mile. Which why we adopted the phrase for this new series of reports that explores how the goals of 2030 can be achieved.
This is a Solutions Based Journalism project. The goal is to interrogate the challenge, explore the data, hear the stories and experiences and present the ideas and practices that will hopefully lead us to all achieving the 2030 goals.
Contact
Graeme Watson
Co-editor
graeme@outinperth.com
