Listen to this article.
By Anita Dangazele
- President Cyril Ramaphosa will launch the Lenacapavir HIV prevention injection in Secunda on Friday, with Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi and the Global Fund attending.
- The six-monthly injection targets adolescent girls, young women, pregnant mothers, sex workers, transgender people, men who have sex with men and injecting drug users.
South Africa has the largest HIV treatment programme in the world. On Friday, it will add a new weapon to the fight: a prevention injection that only needs to be given twice a year.
President Cyril Ramaphosa will officially launch the rollout of Lenacapavir in Secunda, Mpumalanga. Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, Mpumalanga Premier Mandla Ndlovu, civil society groups and the Global Fund will be there.
The injection works differently from the daily prevention pill, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Taking a pill every day is hard when you are poor, busy, or sometimes cannot afford food. Lenacapavir removes that barrier. Two injections a year. That is the whole regimen.
The Department of Health says the injection is aimed at people who carry the highest risk of new infections. That includes adolescent girls and young women up to the age of 24, pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, female sex workers, men who have sex with men, transgender people and injecting drug users.
Stocks will be sent to 360 health facilities in high-burden districts across the country.
South Africa has more people living with HIV than any other nation. Health officials have long said that stopping new infections is just as critical as treating existing ones. Lenacapavir is the government’s latest attempt to close that gap.
Pictured above: President Cyril Ramaphosa is set to officially launch the Lenacapavir HIV prevention injection rollout in Secunda, Mpumalanga.
Image source: The Presidency of the Republic of South Africa
