A small rally took place outside the health regulator’s office today, with Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) and the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) joining calls for the introduction of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to treat what many are calling a HIV crisis in Ireland.
Standing outside the Health Regulatory Authority, campaigners questioned the government’s standstill on an issue that many student and youth groups have taken to heart in recent months, with many calling for the introduction of a drug that is increasingly widely available in other countries. Only yesterday, the NHS in England announced that the drug will soon be accessible to thousands of individuals at risk of HIV infection.
The rally was organised by Act Up, a non-partisan group first founded in New York in 1987, dedicated to campaigning for the interests of those suffering from HIV/AIDS. The Dublin chapter was founded in July 2016 following the growing number of HIV/AIDS diagnoses in Ireland, hitting an all-time high last year. The chapter not only aims to prevent the number of people suffering from HIV from increasing but also start a healthy conversation to raise awareness for the virus. It not only wants to encourage people to be responsible to avoid HIV but also raise awareness that HIV Dating is 100% OK if you are transparent and careful. They hope they can bring a stop to this crisis.
Speaking to The University Times, Síona Cahill, Vice-President for Equality and Citizenship in USI, said: “We think the government really needs to get real at this stage about HIV prevention. All we’re doing is small initiatives around HIV and this isn’t good enough and we really need to buckle up in terms of HIV prevention.” In 2016, the union’s annual congress voted in favour of campaigning for PrEP for Ireland.
As it stands, the HSE is engaged in the process of making PrEP available, with Truvada approved for use in the EU in August 2016.
Under the National Sexual Health Strategy, a working group has been set up to introduce guidelines on the use of PrEP in Ireland. Following this, the HSE will decide whether to provide the treatment under public healthcare and price negotiations with the manufacturer Truvada, Gilead could then take place.
TCDSU’s council last year voted to campaign on the issue. Speaking to The University Times, TCDSU Welfare Officer Damien McClean, said: “I don’t know why we don’t have it here. It’s not contentious. I just think it’s pure laziness that we don’t have it.”
Will St Leger, from Act Up Dublin, spoke to The University Times today. “Ireland has a HIV crisis”, he said. Every 18 hours, Leger said, one person is diagnosed with HIV. “HIV is a preventable, treatable infection. There’s no reason in 2017 we should have these high numbers in Ireland.” Condemning the “inaction” from the government, he said: “Simon Harris has been Minister for Health for all this time and hasn’t said a thing about HIV, hasn’t said a thing about the alarming increase in HIV.”
PrEP is a type of medication that prevents the contraction of HIV/AIDS when taken before and after sex. Currently, PrEP is not available under public healthcare and Truvada, the only such treatment that has been approved after testing periods, is priced at €400 for a 30-day supply in Ireland, limiting access.
Speaking to The University Times at the rally today, Adam Shanley, of the Gay Health Network, said: “I’m here because it’s time for us to put PrEP on people’s agenda, to try and ensure that in a time when we have a rising HIV rate, that we have access to all of the preventative tools that are out there.”
Although they can’t formally offer PReP treatment, Dublin Gay Men’s Health Service and GUIDE clinic in St James Hospital provide the tests needed before taking the medication. While this treatment remains inaccessible for most in Ireland and with imports by mail of these drugs illegal, some have managed to source lower-cost versions of Truvada from overseas.
