'I want others to be spared HIV'

By Hugh Levinson

Therapy blocks HIV infection

A man taking legal action over access to HIV treatment has told the BBC he wants to prevent others enduring "the hell" he has gone through.

The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, is seeking a judicial review of government policy on a therapy known as post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP).

If given soon after exposure to HIV, it can slash the chances of infection.

Campaigners say it is not widely available, but this is disputed by the Department of Health.

It makes me so so angry that me and hundreds, if not thousands, of other people have got HIV because PEP wasn't prescribed to us Robert

Campaigners accuse the government of failing to publicise PEP.

They claim that in practice it is usually only given to health professionals who have been accidentally exposed.

However, the Department of Health said new guidelines now recommend PEP be given to those who need it.

Course of drugs

PEP is a cocktail of drugs, administered over several weeks, costing between £600 and £1,000.

If administered soon after exposure - preferably within 24 hours - it is thought to be highly effective at preventing the person exposed from contracting the virus. It can produce side effects like headaches and nausea.

If there is something that somebody could take that might alter the consequences of what they do, they may be as a result of that more likely to engage in at-risk behaviour Dr Trevor Stammers

The man, who spoke to the BBC Radio 4 programme Law in Action under the pseudonym of Robert, was infected with HIV when a condom broke. He unknowingly passed it to another man.

He only discovered about PEP several years later and is still furious that he wasn't offered the treatment.

He said: "I felt so angry, sick, ill. I still do to this day.

"It makes me so so angry that me and hundreds, if not thousands, of other people have got HIV because PEP wasn't prescribed to us."

Robert said he wants guidelines changed to make PEP more widely available.

He said there was very little knowledge of the treatment and that the government had failed in its duty to inform the public.

Robert believes that means many people have contracted HIV unnecessarily.

Lied to get therapy

Another man, who also wanted to remain anonymous, and who uses the pseudonym Tom, told Law in Action he had to cheat the system to get PEP.

He went to hospital after exposure to HIV. Along the way, he deliberately pricked his finger with a badge.

"I basically lied to the hospital," he said.

"I said I'm really sorry, I fell over on a dustbin and injured myself and I've got a needle-stick injury and I'm worried that I might be infected and I want PEP."

Tom added that his tests showed that he is HIV negative.

Robert expects his judicial review to begin within the next month. He is pressing for 24-hour access to PEP for anyone at risk and for a nationwide publicity campaign.

He said: "This is why the guidelines must be put in place, so that we can stop other people going through the hell that I had to go through and what I had to endure, for no reason."

Risky behaviour

However, others argue that if he wins his review, it could encourage more risky behaviour.

Dr Trevor Stammers, of the Christian Medical Fellowship, said it could "open the floodgates".

That could work against the government's main message on HIV, which is encouraging safe sex.

Dr Stammers said: "If there is something that somebody could take that might alter the consequences of what they do, they may be as a result of that more likely to engage in at-risk behaviour."

The Department of Health said it had already put £80,000 into a publicity and outreach campaign on PEP, targeted at gay men.

It had also funded the creation of guidelines which state that the NHS should make PEP available for all who need it.

However, it is up to individual PCTs as to what they do in practice.

Law in Action is broadcast at 1600 GMT on Radio 4 on 21 February.