Amsterdam to double budget for PrEP trial, giving 400 more access to HIV protection

Amsterdam wants to push another 200,000 euros into the PrEP trial, doubling its budget for the experiment with the HIV-preventing medicine. The extra money will give another 400 men access to the trial next year, the city said in a press release.

There is a long waiting list for access to the trial run by the municipal health service GGD. The extra spots will go to people on the waiting list. “The GGD gives priority to people in a vulnerable position, such as men with high-risk behavior or with a low income,” the city said.

The Amsterdam trial is part of a national experiment that started in September 2019 and runs until next summer. It is aimed at people at an increased risk of HIV infection - men who have sex with men and transgender people. Amsterdam is already helping 2,900 men access PrEP, which can also be prescribed by a GP.

PrEP, short for Pre-exposure prophylaxis, has proven effective in preventing HIV infections. The results of the PrEP trial were already visible in a decrease in HIV infections in the Netherlands in 2021, the HIV Monitoring Foundation reported.

Healthcare alderman Alexander Scholtes wants to use the results of the trial to advocate with the Ministry of Public Health to make PrEP widely available. “Because we want to achieve our goal: zero new HIV infections in 2026 in Amsterdam,” he told AT5.

The city is also investing 315,000 euros in sexual health. The money will be used to increase the capacity of Sexual Health Centers in Amsterdam Zuidoost, Nieuw-West, and Noord. It will also go toward strengthening the care provided by the trans clinic and getting more people tested for HIV.

The extra investments will be incorporated in the Autumn Memorandum - the autumn update to the city’s annual budget. The city council still has to approve it.