Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much her Department spent on PrEP in (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) 2023.

We know that HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is extremely effective at preventing HIV, and oral PrEP is routinely available in specialist sexual health services (SHSs) since 2020.

Routine HIV PrEP services are commissioned by local authorities through the public health grant (PHG) which covers a wide range of public health services, including HIV PrEP and other SHSs. HIV PrEP medication is provided by NHS England and funded through the Department’s overall budget allocation to NHS England.

The Department provided £11 million in 2020/21 and more than £23 million in 2021/22 through the PHG for routine commissioning of PrEP services. From 2022/23, funding for PrEP services has been fully included within the PHG.

The Department allocated more than £3.4 billion to local authorities in England to fund public health services through the PHG in in 2022/23 and more than £3.5 billion in 2023/24.

Individual local authorities decide on spending priorities and commissioning of SHSs, including HIV PrEP services, based on an assessment of local need and the type of services that best suit their population and which may include activities to raise awareness of HIV PrEP.

As part of the HIV Action Plan, the Department is investing over £3.5 million from 2021-2024 to deliver HIV Prevention England (HPE), which aims to improve knowledge of HIV, including evidence-based prevention interventions such as PrEP, and reduce stigma within affected communities. HPE is designed to complement locally commissioned prevention activities in areas of high HIV prevalence and for communities at significant risk of HIV.