AFRICAN UNVEILS HIV PREVENTION SHOT WITH 99.9% PROTECTION

AFRICAN UNVEILS HIV PREVENTION SHOT WITH 99.9% PROTECTION | #RWGBLOG

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South Africa, Eswatini and Zambia on Monday began administering a revolutionary HIV-prevention inj+ction, marking the first public rollout of the dr¥g in Africa the region with the highest HIV burden globally.

The twice-yearly inj+ction, known as lenacapavir, has demonstrated more than 99.9 percent efficacy in reducing HIV transmission, making it one of the most powerful prevention tools yet developed.

In South Africa, where an estimated one in five adults lives with HIV, the initial rollout is being overseen by a Wits University research unit under a project funded by Unitaid, a United Nations health agency.

Unitaid confirmed that the first individuals have now received the injection, calling it “among the first real-world use of the 6-monthly inj+ctable in low- and middle-income countries.” The organisation did not disclose how many people were given the first doses.

In the United States, the dr¥g costs about $28,000 per person per year, though a broader and more affordable national rollout is expected in South Africa next year.

Eswatini and Zambia, which each received 1,000 doses last month under a U.S.-supported programme, were also scheduled to launch their first inj+ctions during World AIDS Day events on Monday.

Eastern and southern Africa currently account for about 52 percent of the 40.8 million people living with HIV worldwide, according to UNAIDS 2024 figures.

Generic versions of lenacapavir are expected to enter the market in 2027 at about $40 per year in more than 100 countries under agreements brokered by Unitaid and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with Indian manufacturers.

The new injection is expected to expand the impact of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), which for more than a decade has relied primarily on daily pills that have had limited uptake globally.

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