firefighter Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 Does anyone know if PrEP is available in Ireland ?, I would definitely consider taking it, and secondly is the same drug available on the drug scheme or do you have to pay the full amount for it. Not sure even if this will make it into the threads the last couple of threads I started disappeared into cyber space, but if it does would love if an Irish member would either post here or pm me as to the details. cheers guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wood Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 bearbandit who posts here a lot is going to be your best source of info on here about PrEP in the UK and Ireland. Personally I know its not available yet, but its under study in the UK. I don't know what that means for Ireland. Now, I don't know if you can buy drugs online in the UK, but it is possible to get a generic version of Truvada called Tenvir-EM. Its made by Cipla which is one of the only W.H.O. certified manufacturers of generic HIV medication. Simply put, you can trust it. If I was without coverage in someway for PrEP, I would buy Tenvir-EM online. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bb1991 Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 Perhaps unsurprisingly for a country which forbids abortion and forbade divorce in it's constitution, PrEP is not available in the Irish Republic. It is available in the United Kingdom, but is officially in the trial period. The trials are being managed from certain cities; Belfast isn't one of those, so its not as simple as just driving to the North. But flights are cheap enough to Birmingham and Manchester if you can get on the trial. (requires blood test 4 times a year and return flights are usually under £40) Foreigners are not immediately entitled to free treatment and medicine under the NHS; so there may be an issue. And prescription medicines are never available online - so anywhere you purchased them from online would be unofficial producers/suppliers and thus would be at your own risk. The trial has been running since November 2012. They wished to try 500 men on PrEP; so far only 335 have taken it up. - leave that to your own conclusions. Trial's website is : http://www.proud.mrc.ac.uk/default.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bearbandit Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 (edited) Just checked at the PROUD study and it's England only, I'm afraid: in an earlier post I said Scotland too, but was wrong :-( The "National" Health Service underwent a re-organisation recently which means that the four constituent nations of the UK (yes, I'm aware that Wales is a Principality, not a nation!), and each works slightly differently, the aim being, as far as I can see to give England more money for its version of the NHS. Firefighter, you don't specify which Ireland you live in, so I checked both Northern Ireland and Eire, and all I came up with was preparatory schools. If the reforms are like the situation between England and Wales, you very likely won't be able to get onto the PrEP trial without an English address: when prescription charges were abolished in Wales you had to have a Welsh address, a Welsh GP and a Welsh pharmacist. As I understand it the English have adopted our failing system of having the counties act as health authorities. All I can suggest is that you contact the organisers directly (and let us know how you get on). Edited January 7, 2014 by bearbandit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JizzDumpWI Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 bearbandit who posts here a lot is going to be your best source of info on here about PrEP in the UK and Ireland. Personally I know its not available yet, but its under study in the UK. I don't know what that means for Ireland. Now, I don't know if you can buy drugs online in the UK, but it is possible to get a generic version of Truvada called Tenvir-EM. Its made by Cipla which is one of the only W.H.O. certified manufacturers of generic HIV medication. Simply put, you can trust it. If I was without coverage in someway for PrEP, I would buy Tenvir-EM online. The problem with self medicating that way is that it seems devoid of the testing protocol for both organ damage and assurance one does NOT have HIV. Truvada is inadequate on its own for HIV treatment. I dont mean to imply that one should not, but do so and arrange for tests you'll need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wood Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 The problem with self medicating that way is that it seems devoid of the testing protocol for both organ damage and assurance one does NOT have HIV. Truvada is inadequate on its own for HIV treatment. I dont mean to imply that one should not, but do so and arrange for tests you'll need. I agree. assuring your neg is easy enough with any clinic visit, but you would need at least an initial blood panel workup too if you went this route. Interestingly enough one of my poz friends said its likely that for poz people they will be doing away with three month checks soon, and moving to yearly checks as long as there are no reported side effects, I would assume PrEP would be the same if that happens. Not sure how I feel about it, but I guess treatment has come a long way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firefighter Posted January 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 Guys thank you so much for your valuable info, I found a paper on the drug an Irish doctor wrote, since and he was pro the drug, I will take on board all the advise and what seems to be the best route is contact the manufacturers directly, and I will keep you posted on the out come. Again thanks for taking the time out to reply it is appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bearbandit Posted January 8, 2014 Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 The problem with self medicating that way is that it seems devoid of the testing protocol for both organ damage and assurance one does NOT have HIV. Truvada is inadequate on its own for HIV treatment. I dont mean to imply that one should not, but do so and arrange for tests you'll need. A quarterly blood work-up is essential with Truvada: if the tenofovir component decides to go for the kidneys it can be fast and vicious, the main reason I was against PrEP when it was first introduced in 2012 (see my posts from July 2012 onwards and you'll see me slowly change my mind), though it does seem that tenofovir is kinder on HIV- kidneys. PrEP and TasP are still, in my opinion, the best defences we've got, but PrEP is still too new to be trusted to behave itself without regular monitoring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firefighter Posted January 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 (edited) wow that was a fast reply, what we expected but a reply none the less, it was as follows Hi ChrisTo my knowledge there are no trials in Ireland. Whereabouts in Ireland are you and do you have a local sexual health clinic that you attend? If not where would you go to get HIV tested? I would be happy to communicate with your regular clinic/doctor if that helps. For further information please see the PROUD study website www.proud.mrc.ac.uk where you will find the participant information sheet that gives you a lot of detail about PrEP as well as the study we are doing in England and links to other independent sources of information. Best wishes Sheena Professor Sheena McCormack Edited January 8, 2014 by rawTOP the past function did not come out right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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