Wednesday 27 June

9.00pm-10.00pm

BBC TWO

Editor Graham Taylor

Pulse Films in partnership with the Open University.

This documentary edited by Graham Taylor is the incredible story of the battle for PrEP on the NHS: a legal fight which saw doctors, activists and AIDS charities come together to overturn the NHS decision. It was the start of an emotive battle which would see the cost of the treatment publicly pitted against the cost of prosthetic limbs, blood cancer drugs and drugs for children with cystic fibrosis.

At the heart of the story is one man, Greg Owen, who helped stop thousands becoming HIV positive by setting up a website which allowed people to buy generic PrEP from drug manufacturers in India. Despite being homeless and without a wage, Greg found himself running Britain’s main gateway to PrEP from his mother’s kitchen in Belfast.

Part of the BBC’s NHS at 70 season marking the 70th anniversary of the NHS, this film explores the hugely complex decisions facing a cash-strapped health service in one of the most difficult periods in its history.

Graham said “it was an honour to work on such an important story and to have the chance to tell the story both for BBC and also in an additional feature length version (which is forthcoming), providing the chance to go deeper into a story that reveals much about contemporary social and political issues”.

The People Vs The NHS: Who Gets The Drugs? will be aired Wednesday 27 June 9pm BBC2.