Health chiefs say they will shortly be reviewing the policy around the availability of a HIV prevention drug through the Manx healthcare system.

Pre-Exposure Phrophylaxis (PrEP) is a drug taken by HIV negative people either once a day or before and after sex to prevent infection, it has been shown to be 99% effective in reducing the risk of acquiring HIV.

The drug, which can be taken by anyone but is especially common among gay and bisexual men, has been trialled in the UK over recent years and is now freely available through sexual health clinics on the NHS in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The Department of Health and Social Care said that the policy ‘will be reviewed by the Strategic Clinical and Professional Advisory Group and informed by the latest position and guidance in the UK.’

A 2018 statement from the department said that the anti-retroviral drug would not be routinely funded at the time but that the policy would be reviewed upon the completion of the ‘PrEPARED’ study in Wales.

That study concluded in June 2020 with the Welsh Minister for Health and Social Services announcing that PrEP would continue to be available ‘as part of routine NHS care for all people for whom it is clinically appropriate.’

A statement from Manx Care on the issue said that as with all clinical commissioning policies, they are ‘obliged to follow the Department of Health and Social Care’ and ‘are awaiting an update to the policy from DHSC, to ensure it aligns with the UK.’

The 2018 statement said that, at the time, ‘it was not possible to model the potential demand or resulting costs of PrEP in the Isle of Man’ and that the decision not to fund PrEP came from ‘uncertainties about demand, cost and impact.’

The availability of the drug was one of the issues included on signs and banners held up during the island’s recent Pride parade.