'Game-changing' HIV protection jab approved in England and Wales
Original story by: BBC News
Last updated: Oct 17, 2025
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- Context: The NHS in England and Wales will now offer a long-acting injectable form of HIV prevention, aligning with policies in Scotland. This new treatment, cabotegravir (CAB-LA), aims to reduce new HIV cases and provide an alternative to daily pills for those who find them difficult to take.
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- Detailed Summary:
- The long-acting injection, given every other month, is a form of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV-negative individuals at high risk of contracting the virus.
- This injectable PrEP is intended for adults and adolescents who find taking daily oral tablets challenging due to factors like convenience, practicality, privacy concerns (e.g., living with others), homelessness, or domestic violence.
- The Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, highlighted the injection as a "game-changing" treatment that embodies the government's commitment to cutting-edge therapies and ensuring no one is left behind, offering hope to vulnerable individuals.
- While daily pills are highly effective, the injection offers greater discretion and convenience.
- HIV is a virus that compromises the immune system, and it can be transmitted through unprotected sex, sharing needles, or from mother to child at birth.
- Cabotegravir injections are recommended for use alongside safer sex practices like condoms.
- The NHS has secured an undisclosed discount for the treatment, which has a list price of approximately £7,000 per patient annually.
- Around 1,000 individuals are expected to be offered the injection in the coming months through NHS sexual health clinics.
- Charities emphasize the need for rapid rollout and suggest exploring alternative delivery settings beyond sexual health clinics to address inequalities and reach those not currently accessing prevention methods.
- Official figures show an increase in PrEP uptake, with about 76% of those identified with a PrEP need in sexual health services starting or continuing treatment last year.
- However, access to PrEP is not equitable across different groups. Uptake is highest among gay, bisexual, and all men who have sex with men (white and ethnic minority), but significantly lower among black African heterosexual women and men.
- HIV testing has also expanded in England's A&E departments, with 89 departments routinely testing patients who have blood taken, particularly in high HIV prevalence areas.
- Early results from a different injection, lenacapavir, suggest the possibility of annual HIV prevention jabs in the future.
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