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HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) could be provided in community pharmacies in Wales from autumn 2025, the Welsh government has told The Pharmaceutical Journal.
In a written update on the ‘HIV Action Plan for Wales 2023–2026’, published on 18 November 2024, Jeremy Miles, cabinet secretary for health and social care, said that Wales was making “encouraging progress” towards the Welsh government’s target of zero new HIV transmissions by 2030, with screening and PrEP uptake increasing.
Miles added: “Although the use of PrEP continues to grow, we can make access even easier. PrEP is predominantly used by gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men but much less so by those in other at-risk groups. Making improvements to access will help address this.
“A model providing more convenient access to PrEP in the community will be piloted and an awareness-raising campaign will run in the spring so all those at risk know about PrEP and how to access it.”
A spokesperson for the Welsh government told The Pharmaceutical Journal that the model would likely be piloted from autumn 2025 and that it would consider pharmacist involvement in provision.
“We are working with health boards to finalise plans to pilot a model, which will provide more convenient access to PrEP in the community,” they said.
“The pilot, which we anticipate will begin in autumn 2025, will include exploring the role pharmacists providing Wales’ national pharmacist independent prescribing service might play in making PrEP more accessible.”
In England, plans to provide PrEP in the community, including in pharmacies, have been in discussion since the publication of the country’s HIV action plan in 2021.
A roadmap for providing PrEP in the community, commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and produced by the independent HIV Action Plan Implementation Steering Group, was published in February 2024, after originally being promised for the end of 2023.
The roadmap said that PrEP pilots were only being considered as “possible future opportunities”, which it described as “concerning”.
In response to a question on the progress of the pilots in England, a spokesperson for the DHSC told The Pharmaceutical Journal: “We are exploring opportunities to deliver PrEP in settings outside sexual health services to improve access, including considering online PrEP provision and PrEP in pharmacies.
“More widely, this government is committed to shifting the focus of healthcare from hospitals to the community. This includes expanding the role of pharmacies by better utilising the skills of pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists.”
Commenting on the possibility of PrEP availability in pharmacies in Wales, Daniel Fluskey, director of policy, research and influencing at the National AIDS Trust, said: “To reach the goal of ending new HIV transmissions by 2030 that the Welsh government has committed to, everyone who can benefit from PrEP must be able to access it easily.
“We know that currently too many people can’t access PrEP, so it is critical that new and creative approaches are taken. Allowing people to get PrEP from their local pharmacy can widen access and convenience for people, as well as ease some of the pressure that sexual health services are experiencing, so we warmly welcome this pilot scheme, which we hope will be successful and bring us a step closer to achieving these aims.”
