NEARLY 1900 have been prescribed a drug shown to drastically reduce the risk of HIV transmission since it was made available on the NHS in Scotland a year ago.

Health Protection Scotland said uptake of HIV Pre Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) had exceeded expectations.

Scotland was the the first of the UK nations to make the "game-changing" drug routinely available on the NHS in July 2017 for those at the very highest risk of acquiring HIV.

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It is also know by the brand name Truvada and costs about £450 a month.

Almost 1900 people were prescribed PrEP during the course of the first year, exceeding initial expectations, with the vast majority (99%) being gay and bisexual men.

Professor David Goldberg, Consultant Epidemiologist, Health Protection Scotland (HPS) and Chair of Scotland’s National HIV PrEP Coordinating Group, said: “Sexual Health Service teams throughout the country should be congratulated for successfully implementing an exciting new measure which has the potential to be a game-changer in Scotland’s drive to eliminate HIV infection from its population.

“The programme has already entered its second year and the focus is now also on reaching other groups who could benefit from PrEP; these include some women and transgender people.”

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PrEP is available within every health board with most patients accessing it through sexual health services.

In clinical trials PrEP was shown to reduce the risk of sexually transmitted HIV by 75-86%.

Health Protection Scotland said around a fifth of those receiving PrEP in the first 12 months of it becoming available on NHS Scotland had never been to a Scottish sexual health clinic before.

However, public health experts said it was still too early to draw any conclusions about the impact of PrEP on the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections such as gonorrhoea.

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Professor David Goldberg, consultant epidemiologist at Health Protection Scotland (HPS) and chair of Scotland’s National HIV PrEP Coordinating Group, said: “Sexual Health Service teams throughout the country should be congratulated for successfully implementing an exciting new measure which has the potential to be a game-changer in Scotland’s drive to eliminate HIV infection from its population.

“The programme has already entered its second year and the focus is now also on reaching other groups who could benefit from PrEP; these include some women and transgender people.”

Dr Rak Nandwani, chair of the HIV Clinical Leads in Scotland said: “A great deal of work has already been done to prevent HIV transmission in Scotland. This includes condom provision, routine antenatal testing, the provision of injecting equipment and a range of behavioural interventions.

"More recently, evidence has shown that HIV drugs are highly effective in reducing HIV transmission from people who are already living with HIV when the amount of virus present in blood becomes undetectable. PrEP is a further addition to the toolbox to help us stop people being infected with HIV”.

Prof Claudia Estcourt, Professor in Sexual Health & HIV Medicine from Glasgow Caledonian University said: “The availability of PrEP has encouraged people at high risk of HIV to engage with sexual health services, many of whom had not used services before.

"This is enabling people to take pro-active steps to a healthier sex life by taking advantage of the wide ranging screening and prevention services on offer.”

Nathan Sparling, Chief Executive of HIV Scotland said: “Scotland was the first country in the UK to embrace the PrEP revolution with full and free access. This report shows it was a great first year, with more people at risk of HIV taking it than anyone anticipated."