Characteristics of HIV post-exposure prophylaxis recipients at six English sexual health clinics during COVID-19

Disruption to sexual health services during the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID-19]) pandemic may have adversely affected the provision of HIV post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), possibly leading to increased HIV transmission. Globally, services have reported a reduction in the number of PEP prescriptions dispensed during lockdowns, although it is unclear why. Our primary objective was to describe the temporal change in weekly HIV PEP dispensed at six English sexual health clinics in 2020.

We performed a cross-sectional review of PEP prescriptions from six English centres during 2020.

During 2020, 2884 PEP prescriptions were dispensed across the six centres studied, a fall of 34.5% from the 4403 PEP prescriptions in 2019. Before the COVID-related lockdown in 2020, the PEP dispensed was stable at 82.5 per week. Following the first lockdown, this fell to a nadir of 13 in week 14 (Figure 1). Prescriptions rose to a peak of 79 in week 37 and then declined to 32 prescriptions in the last week of 2020. There was no difference in the following characteristics of PEP recipients before and during the first lockdown: age, ethnicity, country of birth or the service the recipient attended.

Whatever the reason for the fall in PEP seen in England over 2020, it is essential that HIV testing and access to HIV prevention is maintained for those in need.