Update on PrEP Impact trial in England

28 Nov 2017 02:00 PM

In response to stakeholders, Public Health England (PHE) and NHS England have published an update on the PrEP Impact trial.

Latest update

A month on from the PrEP Impact trial starting to enroll its first participants, good progress is being made with over 1,900 people now enrolled on the trial and receiving PrEP.

Over 35 clinics including sites in London, Brighton, Cambridge, Norwich, Leicester, Nottingham, Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool and Durham are now open for trial recruitment. All participating clinics are expected to open by April 2018.

An up to date list of participating clinics can be found on the trial websitewhere people can find out if their local clinic is open to recruitment.

Most sexual health clinics are expected to take part in the trial, so people will be able to enroll at a local clinic when it’s ready. In order to avoid people travelling long distances to access PrEP, we are currently working with clinics and community groups to ensure everyone has the latest information on the trial and is aware that clinics across the country will be opening soon.

The PrEP Oversight Board held its latest meeting on 15 November 2017 where it welcomed Florence Labwo, the third lay member to join the group following a recent recruitment process. Florence brings over 20 years’ experience as a health and well-being advocate, specialising in sexual and public health and has worked extensively in the field of HIV prevention and support in East London.

Issues raised and discussed at the Board included updates:

• from the trial Sponsor on progress so far with participant recruitment and site openings, along with future projections
• on work to define the principles which will guide any future re-allocation of trial places, in the event of some clinics quickly filling their allotted places
• from lay representatives which included a request for the website to include information on when a trial site has reached its full allocation of places for gay and bisexual men, but where there are still places available for other groups
• from local authority commissioners who raised the importance of regular communication between the trial organisers and local sites to help address local issues or problems that might arise
• about the need for the Board to continue to receive frequent updates on trial progress given that recruitment was taking place very quickly; in future a dashboard will be produced showing progress against the main objectives and to help actively manage the allocation of places between sites and different participant groups
• about the need for continued regular communication from the Board to stakeholders – it was agreed that going forward, stakeholder updates would be sent out within one week of Board meetings where possible
• about the request for a proposal to come to the next meeting on raising awareness of the trial in groups other than gay and bisexual men, to ensure that as diverse a range of participants can be recruited to the trial as possible
• on the launch of PHE’s HIV Prevention Innovation Fund which includes a number of projects related to PrEP

The Board will meet again on 19 December 2017 and a further update will follow after that date.

For further information on the trial, visit the trial website.