City pilots new online HIV-prevention drug service

PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) pills can stop HIV taking hold and spreading throughout the body.

People in Liverpool are being offered easier access to a pioneering pill which can reduce the risk of contracting HIV by 99%.

The city's axess sexual health service is piloting a new online platform that will deliver preventative HIV medication PrEP direct to patients without the need for them to have an in-person consultation.

The axess clinic, part of NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group, has launched the pilot thanks to funding by Liverpool City Council and the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

There are longer term plans to expand the programme to other axess sexual health service areas in Warrington, Halton, Cheshire East and Knowsley.

PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) pills can stop HIV taking hold and spreading throughout the body.

Liverpool residents can receive a kit to test at home for HIV, hepatitis and kidney health. They will receive their results via text message.

If no clinical follow-up is required, PrEP will then be delivered directly to a patient's address free of charge.

An app called PrEP EmERGE is due to launch this month to support the project and will securely connect patients to their sexual health records, offering simple access to test results, appointment details, medication reminders and PrEP usage tracking.

'Simple and discrete'

The Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said the move would help to further improve on the city's recent successes in ending new HIV transmissions by 2030.

In October 2024, Liverpool City Council revealed that the city had seen a 7.5% increase in HIV testing, a growing uptake of PrEP medication, and a significant drop in late HIV diagnoses.

Luke Byrne, assistant divisional director of nursing, sexual health and HIV at axess sexual health, said the launch was an "exciting step forward in Liverpool's mission to make HIV prevention accessible to everyone".

He said the funding means "we can transform how people engage with their sexual health, bringing PrEP directly to those who need it most, in ways that fit their lives".

It ensures communities which have historically faced barriers to healthcare, including LGBTQ+ people, can now "access prevention and care with dignity, privacy and convenience," he said.

Mr Byrne said it would also extend access to those who may be at risk but have not traditionally seen themselves as needing PrEP, including women, "by making prevention simple and discrete".