8 June 2017 - HIV prevention medication PrEP has been added to the World Health Organisation’s list of “essential medicines”.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis, also known by brand name Truvada, is a once-daily pill that has been shown to dramatically reduce the risk of HIV transmission in people at high risk, in conjunction with other prevention strategies including condoms.

Approximately 10,000 people are currently receiving free PrEP medication through trials being run by Australian state and territory governments, including in Queensland.

An application to get it listed on the PBS – and reduce the cost of the pills to no more than $38.80 – was rejected by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee last August, with the committee saying the cost of making PrEP available to all at-risk people was too high.

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