Former pharmacy minister Steve Brine last week (December 4) told C+D that the government’s new HIV action plan for 2025 to 2030 “is very welcome”.
It is “really hard to get these plans agreed across government and out the door”, he stressed.
Read more: Pharmacies ‘should be at heart’ of HIV prevention, researchers say
But he said that it is “regrettable” that community pharmacy is “once again largely left out of” the plan to end new HIV transmissions by the end of the decade, “particularly with respect to the availability of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)”.
“The 2030 ambition is increasingly hard to reach, so we really do need to utilise every possible route to reach people and prevent transmission,” he added.
Pharmacy absence “disappointing”
Conservative MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale David Mundell also today (December 8) told C+D that it is “disappointing that pharmacies are absent” from the action plan.
He highlighted that Wales already has a pilot “underway to deliver PrEP through pharmacies” while “scoping work is happening in England”.
And he said that the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on HIV, AIDS and sexual health, of which he is co-chair, “would have welcomed a clear commitment to expanding this approach”.
Read more: Welsh government reveals plans for pharmacy PrEP pilot
“Pharmacies can and should play a key role in the solution alongside other initiatives for expanding access to PrEP, even if infrastructure and funding currently present challenges,” Mundell added.
And he said that the APPG “will continue working closely with the HIV sector and the Department of Health and Social Care (DH) to push this forward alongside other initiatives for expanding access”.
“An important role”
Meanwhile, National Pharmacy Association (NPA) director of corporate affairs Gareth Jones said that pharmacies are “a highly suitable setting for preventative HIV-related interventions” due to their “accessibility” and “strong track record in providing sexual health services”.
“Investment in this area could generate fantastic dividends in terms of improving access to care,” he added.
And he said that the NPA “has worked with the National AIDS Trust and the Terrence Higgins Trust” and there “is a coalition of groups that see an important role for pharmacy in this space”.
Read more: ‘Tear down the regs and make PrEP readily available’, say MPs
It comes after researchers at the University of Bristol said that community pharmacies “should be at the heart” of efforts to prevent HIV in the UK.
In a policy briefing published in September, the researchers said pharmacies “could offer a more accessible and discreet alternative” to accessing PrEP from sexual health clinics.
And during a House of Commons debate in February, MPs called for PrEP to be made “more readily available” outside of sexual health clinics and for the government to “tear down” the regulations stopping community pharmacies from prescribing the medicine.
