Greg Owen is a UK-born activist who started a website to make generic

pre-exposure prophylaxis Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is the use of medications to prevent the spread of disease in people who have not yet been exposed to a disease-causing agent, usually a virus. The term typically refers to the use of antiviral drugs as a strateg ...

medication (PrEP) accessible to prevent

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

infection.

Early life

Owen was the eldest of six children; he grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He attended a drama college in London, from which he graduated in 2001.

PrEP advocacy

Owen has been called "one of the U.K.’s most vocal proponents of PrEP", describing himself as the "poster boy for PrEP in the UK". In 2015, Owen met Alex Craddock, who was taking PrEP obtained while living in New York. While PrEP was accessible in the US, it was not yet available in the UK. Owen was interested in taking PrEP, so he first went to take an

test. The test confirmed that he was positive for the virus. Owen was frustrated that PrEP, which could have prevented him from getting the virus, was not widely available for sale in the UK. Owen and Craddock launched a website in October 2015, I Want Prep Now, so that others would have the opportunity to buy PrEP. Through their site, customers could purchase a generic version of the drug

Truvada Emtricitabine/tenofovir, sold under the brand name Truvada among others, is a fixed-dose combination antiretroviral medication used to treat and prevent HIV/AIDS. It contains the antiretroviral medications emtricitabine and tenofovir disoprox ...

for a tenth of the cost—around US$67 per month. At the time, only one clinic in the UK was able to legally distribute the drug, costing $700 for a month's supply. British sexual health specialist Mags Portman heard about Owen's website, and got in contact with him. Owen decided that his website and PrEP outreach needed credibility and visibility; he described its early days as "

the blind leading the blind "The blind leading the blind" is an idiom and a metaphor in the form of a parallel phrase, it is used to describe a situation where a person who knows nothing is getting advice and help from another person who knows almost nothing. History Th ...

". Portman sought the opinion of the General Medical Council, which directed that a clinician's responsibility was to provide the best care for their patients, regardless of what was commissioned. Sexual health clinics began offering blood and urine tests to those purchasing the generic PrEP to provide assurance that they were buying the real drug instead of dummy pills. I Want Prep Now grew continuously in web traffic as the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

's (NHS) decision not to fund PrEP went through legal challenges. HIV-related charities began to coordinate their actions against the NHS in a series of meetings. Owen was the only activist invited to these meetings, as "every HIV specialist knew that he was the main link to thousands of people wanting the drug". By the time the NHS lost in the

High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC (Englan ...

to the National AIDS Trust in August 2016, I Want Prep Now was receiving 12,000 unique visitors each month. HIV researcher Sheena McCormack credits Owen with helping decrease the number of HIV diagnoses in the UK. From 2015–2016, the number of new diagnoses in London had decreased by 40%, while around the UK it was decreased by around a third. Owen recalls McCormack saying to him, "There are thousands of people who didn’t become HIV-positive this year because of you." Despite the NHS decision being overturned, meaning that they now fund PrEP, Owen stated that in 2018, 10,000 people in the UK are purchasing generic prep online because they cannot get it through the NHS.

''The People Vs The NHS: Who Gets The Drugs?''

Pulse Films and

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

collaborated to create ''The People Vs The NHS: Who Gets The Drugs?'', a 2018 documentary on the legal battle to make the NHS fund PrEP after their 2016 decision not to do so. Owen is featured at the "heart of the story". The documentary was co-produced by the BBC to mark the 70th anniversary of the NHS.

Awards and honors

In 2016, activist and blogger Mark S. King named Owen as one of his 16 "HIV Advocates to Watch". In 2017 he was named a recipient of the first Life+ Award from Life Ball along with Will Nutland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Owen, Greg Living people HIV/AIDS activists Activists from Belfast Activists from Northern Ireland Year of birth missing (living people)