HIV cases in gay men fall for the first time in England

For the first time in English history, new diagnoses of HIV have fallen across the country – the drop was steepest in areas where HIV testing was carried out most frequently. In five testing clinics across London, levels dropped by 32% that was directly attributed to their methods of methods have frequent testing for those most at risk.

Numbers of new cases of HIV across the England fell from 2,060 to 1,700 in 2015-2016. The fall has been attributed to a collection of factors, including increased testing, faster treatment with HIV therapy and the use of the drug, PrEP.

PrEP was the stage of a bitter court battle between NHS England and campaigners advocating the funding of the drug to better protect those most at risk – gay and bisexual men. A court decision ruled that NHS England was responsible for providing access to the drug but it has, so far, dragged its feet on providing the drug.

The timeline in the fall of rates has observationally linked to the clinical efficacy of PrEP being established in the US. The drug works by inhibiting the HIV virus from replicating once it enters the body, preventing the drug from becoming a permanent infection.

The report from which these statistics have been taken concluded that the: "The use of PrEP among high-risk MSM [men who have sex with men], although limited at this stage, will also have contributed to the fall in new diagnoses. If HIV testing of MSM at high risk of HIV is intensified, and wide-scale immediate ART, as observed within the London large-fall clinics, is replicated elsewhere, it is probable that a substantial reduction in HIV transmission among MSM could be achieved nationally. Should the promise of the ‘PrEP Impact Trial’ proposed in England be realised promptly, then a very large reduction in HIV transmission in MSM may be attained. The similarity of the MSM HIV epidemic in England to elsewhere in western Europe suggests a similar approach in these countries might be equally successful."

The overall across fall across England was found to be 17%, leading some to suggest that the dramatic drop may point towards the possible elimination of new cases of infection. Such success would be dependent on continued funding in the fight against the transmission of the virus.