Scottish minister hails Glasgow Caledonian University’s pioneering ePrEP Clinic ahead of World AIDS Day

At a Scottish Parliament event commemorating World AIDS Day, the Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health, Jenni Minto, hailed Glasgow Caledonian University’s pioneering ‘ePrEP Clinic’, a digital service for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).

The ePrEP Clinic feasibility study launched earlier this month and is now welcoming its first patients.

Dr Ross Kincaid, part of the research team that developed the ePrEP Clinic, said: “We are delighted that the ePrEP feasibility study was highlighted at the World AIDS Day event at the Parliament and that it was met with such interest and enthusiasm.

“The study is part of the Scottish Government-funded ePrEP research programme, based at Glasgow Caledonian University, and is an important step towards providing people with more choice and convenience in how they get PrEP, facilitating appropriate person-centred, self-managed care and more effective use of resources.”

A key part of HIV transmission elimination strategies is the upscaling of oral HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) provision. PrEP is a pill that people take to prevent HIV acquisition. In Scotland, sexual health services are the primary providers of PrEP-related care.

The University’s ePrEP Clinic, led by Professor Claudia Estcourt, will compliment in-clinic care, offering established PrEP users the choice to complete some of their routine PrEP check-ups without having to attend a sexual health clinic, making long-term PrEP care more convenient for users and reducing the pressure on sexual health clinics.