6. Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services: An Update on Pre-exposure Prophylaxis — Our Approach in Wales

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:04 pm on 2 October 2018.

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Photo of Rhun ap Iorwerth Rhun ap Iorwerth Plaid Cymru 5:04, 2 October 2018

(Translated)

Thank you very much. I, too, welcome the success that appears to have come out of the trials to date. What we need now, of course, is to ensure that as many people as possible can access the PrEP trial, as it is extended. It's very encouraging to see a significant decrease in the number of new cases of HIV in Wales, but, of course, there is always more that can be done.

We also know about the whole host of barriers that there are to people being able to access PrEP. There are still a significant number of people who are eligible for PrEP who refuse to receive treatment. Also, of course, the demand for sexual health services has doubled in the period between 2011 and 2016, without a corresponding increase in the resources available for sexual health services. So, it isn't hard to see where the problem comes from. We also have holes in the information available in Wales in terms of demographic data and so on. 

So, three questions: what steps are you taking, or do you intend to take, Cabinet Secretary, to engage with individuals and groups of people who are eligible for PrEP to raise awareness of the treatment and to ensure that PrEP is accepted by those groups—and I think that sex workers are an important group to be targeted in this instance? Can we have a commitment from you that sexual health services will be funded adequately in order to support the PrEP study, to ensure that everyone who can benefit from it can get access to it? And, on this question of data, what steps can you take to look at the gaps that we have in the demographic data to ensure that PrEP services are targeted as effectively as possible?