Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to provide Descovy as a HIV prevention drug.

The updated NHS England clinical commissioning policy establishes the use of generic and second line pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for human immunodeficiency virus prevention, including emtricitabine and tenofovir alafenamide (Descovy®) as a second line treatment option for individuals who meet the inclusion criteria and cannot take the usual first-line PrEP therapy due to risk factors.

The commissioning policy was published on 22 May 2023 and is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/reimbursement-for-the-use-of-generic-drugs-for-pre-exposure-prophylaxis-prep-for-the-prevention-of-hiv/