Ross Clark Ross Clark

The NHS shouldn’t fund a drug that prevents HIV

What would you say if a powerful cyclists’ pressure group ganged up on the NHS and lobbied it to provide free cycle helmets to anyone who asked for one, accusing it of having on its hands the blood of every helmet-less cyclist who died while the NHS tried to spurn the demand? I think I can guess the answer in the case of most readers: shove off and buy your own helmets.

Why, then, does it become such a different matter when the National Aids Trust demands that the NHS provide a free supply of a drug known as Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, or PrEP, to people who want to have unprotected sex with multiple partners. The proposal has raised hardly any protest other than a dry response from the NHS itself that it wasn’t sure whether it had the authority to prescribe a drug which is purely preventative – or whether that should come under local authorities. The idea was backed by Max Pemberton, editor of Spectator Health, last November.

The government has now asked NICE, the quango charged with judging the costs versus benefits of drugs, to carry out a review. It is not hard to guess what will come next. After a bit more bashing from the likes of the National Aids Trust – which has threatened a judicial review on the grounds of ‘discrimination’ — the government, afraid of being accused of homophobia, will give in.

It shouldn’t. If you are going to set a precedent whereby the NHS is expected to fund protective equipment to help people cope with the dangers inherent in their pastimes there will be no containing  NHS spending. What would be the argument then for the NHS not providing free ropes and crampons to mountaineers or flameproof suits to motor-racing drivers? If they save lives, why not?

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