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A MEDICATION THAT dramatically reduces the risk of contracting HIV is to be made available on prescription through Irish pharmacists at a significantly cheaper price than the current €400 a month.
Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) is a once daily medication that can significantly reduce risk of infection among HIV-negative people at high risk.
To date, PrEP has only been available to buy on prescription at a price of over €400 a month in Ireland.
However, marking World AIDS Day, Teva Pharmaceuticals confirmed its more affordable, generic version of the medication will be made available in pharmacies in Ireland from Monday, on foot of a doctor’s prescription.
Teva’s PrEP is expected to be 70% cheaper than the current cost of its branded equivalent. This will still cost those at risk of HIV around €1440 a year.
People are at high risk of contracting HIV when their partners are HIV-positive or when they have unprotected sex.
The medication was first launched in the United States in 2012 and since then has been made available in multiple healthcare jurisdictions across the world.
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Today is #WorldAIDSDay2017 From Monday @TevaUSA#PrEP will be available in Ireland. Proven to reduce transmission of HIV.
The HSE has not yet moved to reimburse PrEP and, despite today’s news, the medication will not be made available to patients under the general medical services scheme (GMS) or the drug payment scheme.
The new generic version must be paid for in full by the patient on presentation of a doctor’s prescription.
“We are conscious that the HSE has yet to move to reimburse this medication for those who do not have the resources to pay for it privately. We are engaging with the HSE to progress this issue to ensure that PrEP can be accessed by all,” General manager of Teva, Sandra Gannon said.
Teva is currently writing to all doctors working in the area of sexual health to update them on the availability of PrEP in pharmacies, to ensure they can advise their patients appropriately.
The number of HIV diagnoses in Ireland has increased by 35% since 2011.
512 new HIV diagnoses were made in 2016. A total of 485 people were diagnosed in Ireland in 2015.
The World Health Organisation released guidelines last year recommending that oral PrEP should be offered as an additional prevention choice for people at substantial risk of HIV infection.
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Far too many ‘maybe’s’ and ‘possible’ talk here, we’ve heard it all before.
We need representatives with a bit of backbone and genuine concern for Ireland and its people, until we have this we will be continually screwed by the banking and business elites across Europe.
Definitely – we should start making ultimatums (ultimata?) that if we don’t immediately get sorted we’re going to……., well I don’t know what we’re going to do but something pretty damn serious, thats for sure.
as long as the bankers and the god like markets and bondholders are all paid off and happy the ordinary mortal can wait to be helped………..same excuses from these lot!
Agree with the too many maybe’s and if’s…in the meantime we’re being hammered into the finncial stone age. This macks once again of Ireland’s small and insignificant voice at the European table…if this was France or Germany there’d be fk all maybe’s and they’d be climbing their own arses to get t resolved. It demonstrates how utterly ineffective our crowd are in Europe and continue to wait to be served while we suffer on and on..
Trichet is just another puppet carrying out orders. I find it hard to believe,We (Irish) haven’t copped on to this stageshow being played out via controlled media. seriously, We now need to wakes-up.
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