HIV drug battle

BBC Radio 4's Law in Action was broadcast on Tuesday, 21 February, 2006 at 1600 GMT.

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

The action is over a little known HIV treatment , called Post Exposure Prophylaxis, or 'PEP'. If given soon after exposure to HIV, it can slash the chances of infection.

The man, who spoke to us under the pseudonym of Robert, was infected with HIV when a condom broke. He unknowingly passed it to another man. 'Robert' only found out about PEP several years later and is still furious that he was not 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 was not prescribed to us."

'Robert' said he is seeking a judicial review of government policy. He said there was very little knowledge of the treatment and that the government has failed in its duty to inform the public. He believes that means many people have contracted HIV unnecessarily.

However, this is disputed by the Department of Health. They say new guidelines now recommend PEP be given to those who need it. They have also spent £80,000 on an information campaign targeted at gay men.

We talk to 'Robert' about his case and to his barrister, David Wolfe. Dr David Hawkins, a specialist in sexual diseases explains exactly how the treatment works. And 'Tom', a man who was exposed to HIV, explains how he went to extreme measures to make sure he got access to PEP.