LONDON — British Health Secretary Matt Hancock has revealed that the government is ready to roll out a drug that prevents HIV infections.

The drug is to be made available on the NHS this year in a move to try and eliminate new transmissions of the virus within the decade. The drug will be available in England from April, the Department of Health has confirmed.

PrEP — or pre-exposure prophylaxis — is an antiretroviral medicine which, taken once a day, stops the transmission of HIV during unprotected sex, according to reports in BBC News and Press Association.

PrEP will be made routinely available to patients deemed to be at greater risk of catching HIV from April.

Hancock said: “We are rolling out PrEP and making it available across the country — with evidence showing it almost completely eradicates the chances of getting HIV.

“This will benefit tens of thousands of people’s lives, and drive us towards our ambition of zero HIV transmissions in this decade.”

Having HIV was once a “death sentence” and it still has “a devastating impact on so many lives across the country”, he said.

The reports revealed that NHS England would cover the costs of the drug, having carried out a three-year study involving more than 20,000 people.

The Department of Health said local authorities will be given funding from April, with £16 million to be made available in 2020/21, to commission services in England for the first time to patients.

PrEP involves HIV negative people taking antiretroviral medicine, which work by stopping the virus replicating in the body.

PrEP is already available in Scotland to people who are considered to be at high risk of contracting HIV, and a trial of the drug is taking place in Wales.

The rollout comes after a long-running battle by campaign groups to “secure a guarantee of proper access to this game-changer for HIV prevention in England”, the report said. — Agencies