Queensland’s Health Department will close the state’s trial of HIV prevention medication PrEP 18 months earlier than planned, removing $740,000 in funding from the Queensland AIDS Council.
PrEP, which stands for pre-exposure prophylaxis, is a once-daily pill that has been found to dramatically reduce the risk of HIV transmission in HIV-negative people, in conjunction with other safe sex measures.
The federal government finally listed the medication on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme from April 1 this year, dropping the cost from as high as $2000 a month to $40 per month.
The Queensland Government has run a trial of the medication, providing PrEP free to participants, since late 2016 and said this week it will end early on January 31 next year, instead of June 30, 2020.
The Queensland AIDS Council, which is administering the trial, said the move was disappointing and they were concerned about the possibility of participants – especially those in regional and rural areas – seroconverting if the early closure did not allow them sufficient time to find an alternative means of accessing prescriptions for PrEP.
“There is currently a shortage of GPs across Queensland who have knowledge of PrEP to absorb those coming off the trial,” QuAC said.
The organisation said they also didn’t want to see Medicare-ineligible participants or some low-income earners stop taking PrEP after the trial because of the prohibitive cost.