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Inequalities in access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV are persisting among different ethnicities, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said.
In its 2026 report on the government’s HIV Action Plan, published on 14 May 2026, the UKHSA said that while England has met the United Nation’s AIDS (UNAIDS) targets — with 95% of all adults living with HIV diagnosed, 95% of diagnosed adults receiving treatment and 98% of adults on treatment with suppressed viral loads — “inequalities persist” in diagnoses and PrEP access.
“While new HIV diagnoses fell overall by 6% between 2023 and 2024, the decrease was mainly in white gay and bisexual men (6%), compared to a 2% decrease in ethnic minority gay and bisexual men and a 15% increase in black African heterosexual men. Furthermore, too many people, 2 in 5, were diagnosed late,” the report said.
Data cited in the report show that PrEP uptake remains lowest in black African heterosexual women and men, at 34.6% and 36.4%, respectively, and among other heterosexuals in ethnic minorities, at 43.9%.
This is “in stark contrast to PrEP uptake in gay and bisexual men of any ethnicity, which approaches 80%”, the report said.
However, the report also noted “record levels” of people using PrEP in England, with 111,123 accessing the treatment in 2024.
Under the ‘HIV Action Plan for England, 2025 to 2030’ published in December 2025, the government has adopted UNAIDS targets, aimed to reduce new HIV infections by 90% from 2010 by 2030, with a continued 5% decline in infections per year after 2030.
It also aims to reduce AIDS-related deaths by 90% from 2010.
“Since 2010, the number of new HIV diagnoses, the proxy for new infections, have halved. However, we must achieve a further 80% reduction (from 2,773 to 532) over the next 5 years to hit this UNAIDS target by 2030,” the report said.
Sexual health advocates, pharmacy groups and HIV charity the Terrence Higgins Trust have long argued that providing PrEP through community pharmacies could improve access for some hard-to-reach groups.
In January 2026, the Terrence Higgins Trust published a report on policy options for widening access to PrEP via pharmacies, setting out several benefits that this could provide in terms of access.
In England, a ‘PrEP access and equity task and finish group’ — established by the Department of Health and Social Care in October 2022 to identify ways of improving access to PrEP, as part of the ‘Towards Zero: the HIV Action Plan for England – 2022 to 2025’ — recommended the establishment of a series of national pilots for PrEP provision in settings outside specialist sexual health clinics, including pharmacies.
Subsequently, a pilot service in the south west of England ran from October 2024 until spring 2025, the results of which were published in September 2025. The researchers, from the University of Bristol, made several recommendations in a policy briefing published with the pilot results, including the community pharmacies should be embedded in HIV prevention strategies.
