A RECOMMENDATION that the Welsh Government does not fund HIV prevention treatment PrEP, has been described as “short-sighted” by a leading charity.

The All Wales Medicines Strategy Group has advised that PrEP not be made available on the NHS.

HIV and sexual health charity the Terrence Higgins Trust, which believes PrEP is a game-changing treatment, is stressing the group has only made a recommendation and the Welsh Government is yet to decide.

But it is disappointed and fears that if acted upon, a postcode lottery will be created in the UK in terms of protection from HIV.

The trust says PrEP - administered in the form of a tablet called Truvada - works and is cost-effective.

Sarah Fuhrmann, national director for the Terrence Higgins Trust in Wales, added: “We are disappointed by this short-sighted recommendation.

“For every person who receives an HIV diagnosis, the Welsh NHS will pay on average £360,000 in lifetime treatment costs.

“PrEP can save the NHS this money in the long term, whilst taking us one step closer to ending the HIV epidemic.

“This recommendation could mean a wasted opportunity to tackle the epidemic in Wales, where investment in HIV prevention has been patchy at best, and where late HIV diagnosis rates are the highest in the UK.

“This is all the more disappointing so soon after Scotland made history by becoming the first UK country to fund PrEP on the NHS.”