Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking ensure that heterosexual men’s (a) access to and (b) awareness of Pre-exposure Prophylaxis reach the same level as other demographics.

We are firmly committed to increasing access to, and awareness of, Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for all population groups, including heterosexual men. This will be a key objective in our new HIV Action Plan which is currently being developed, and which we aim to publish this year.

PrEP is funded via the Public Health Grant and delivered via local sexual health services, whilst the cost of the drug itself is funded by NHS England. In 2025/26 we are increasing funding through the ringfenced Public Health Grant to £3.858 billion. This represents a significant turning point for local health services, marking the biggest real-terms increase after nearly a decade of reduced spending, between 2016 and 2024. This additional funding has been provided to support local government with the pressures facing the sector, including from potential additional costs relating to HIV PrEP.