The UK’s leading HIV and sexual health charities have attacked as “shameful” a decision by NHS England not fund a treatment method that can drastically reduce transmission risks.

If followed regularly, the pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) prevention method, usually with a prescribed daily pill, can reduce the risk of HIV infection by up to 86%, according to a recent study.

But on Tuesday, a meeting of NHS England’s specialised services committee confirmed an earlier decision that the treatment fell outside its remit because preventative services were the responsibility of local authorities.

NHS England said the committee had “considered and accepted NHS England’s external legal advice that it does not have the legal power to commission PrEP” as local authorities are the responsible commissioner for HIV prevention services.

It added, however, that it “remains committed to working with other commissioners to explore the possible provision of PrEP. This includes working in partnership with Public Health England to run a number of early implementer test sites, backed with up to £2m investment over the next two years, to research how PrEP could be commissioned in the most clinically and cost effective way”.

The decision follows an announcement by NHS England in March that it would not roll out PrEP to all those who needed it. Following public outcry and a legal threat by the National Aids Trust (NAT) against that decision, the organisation later said it would reconsider. However, having done so, NHS England has once again decided against commissioning PrEP.

HIV campaigners expressed outrage at the decision. Deborah Gold, chief executive of NAT, said: “NHS England is sitting on something that could be the beginning of the end for the HIV epidemic – if only it were made available. The refusal to commission it for all those at significant risk is astonishing.

“Seventeen people are being diagnosed with HIV every day. We are extremely disappointed and we will now be looking at our options, including further legal action.”

Ian Green, chief executive of the Terrence Higgins Trust, said: “This is a shameful day for HIV prevention. This country used to lead the way in the fight against the HIV epidemic, but today, our national health service has washed its hands of one of the most stunning breakthroughs we’ve seen; a pill which, if taken correctly, is almost 100% effective in preventing HIV.

“How did it come to this? It defies belief that, after 18 months of false hope, delays and U-turns in the battle to see PrEP made available on the NHS to people at high risk of HIV, today we are in a worse position than when we started.

“It is a mess, and the people who will feel the effects are the 2,500 men who have sex with men who will be needlessly infected with HIV each year in the UK. This figure has not changed in a decade. Who will claim responsibility for the life-long impact this will have on people’s lives?”

PrEP has been endorsed by the World Health Organisation, who recommend that people at substantial risk of HIV infection should be offered the treatment as an additional prevention choice. It is already available in the US, Canada, France, Kenya and Israel and will soon be prescribed in Australia.

Last week, all major HIV organisations, as well as leading clinicians and prominent activists came together to write a letter to the Times calling on the government to make PrEP available to people at high risk in England.

It came after David Cameron said during prime minister’s questions that NHS England should reach a decision quickly because “these treatments can help and make a difference”.

NHS England said that even if it had legal power to commission PrEP, there was “no guarantee that the annual prioritisation round would result in a decision to invest millions of pounds in PrEP over new treatments and interventions in other service areas which are also competing for funding”.

Green said it was not right that people who know themselves to be at high risk of HIV have to buy PrEP themselves from the internet at considerable personal expense. “Many high-risk people are living in poverty and they simply cannot afford to protect themselves against HIV. Currently, only those who can afford it are able to access this life-changing treatment, further widening the inequality gap by those most affected by HIV.

“The battle for PrEP must continue until the day that people at highest risk have access to this groundbreaking pill that will protect them from HIV.”

Matthew Hodson, of the gay men’s health charity GMFA, said he was “shocked, disappointed and saddened” by the NHS’s decision. “Neither PrEP nor condoms or any of the other tools that we can use to prevent new HIV infections are sufficient on their own to end this epidemic,” Hodson said. “However, if we are able to utilise all of the weapons in our prevention armoury, which includes PrEP, we could bring about an end to new infections within a generation.”

Other campaigners also expressed their disappointment on social media.