The Times continues divisive coverage of PrEP, ignoring warnings from health orgs
By Josh Lee
have continued to report on PrEP in a divisive manner, ignoring warnings from a number of health organisations against pitting groups of patients against one another.
Last Thursday (November 10), a court battle between the National AIDS Trust and NHS England concluded with the high court ruling that NHS England does have the power to commission PrEP, and should begin the process of assessing whether it can afford to commission it.
The day after the ruling (November 11), The Times published a report on the decision entitled, “Sick children to miss out after ruling on HIV drugs.
“Children with cystic fibrosis are among patients caught in a stand-off between the NHS and a drug company over the cost of a daily pill to prevent HIV after the Court of Appeal ruled that health chiefs could not wriggle out of paying,” they wrote.
The coverage echoes the Daily Mail’s widely-condemned front-page story on PrEP which was published on (August 3) and described HIV groups’ support of PrEP – which they termed a “lifestyle drug” – as a “skewed set of values,” in light of cataract surgeries being “rationed”. The Daily Mail were accused of homophobia for their editorial stance on the issue. The Times also reported around the same time that “Children with cystic fibrosis will be refused a drug to help them to breathe after the High Court ruled that the NHS is responsible for providing a daily pill to prevent HIV infection in gay men.”
Shortly after the Daily Mail’s news story, a number of health organizations and groups, including Parkinsons UK, Epilepsy Association and the Motor Neurone Disease Association signed an open letter blasting NHS England for their “divide and rule” tactics that inspired the Daily Mail’s coverage. They also warned against publicly pitting the interests of one patient group against another in its press, declaring that “all patients, and all conditions, matter.”