South Africa, Eswatini and Zambia on Monday began administering a new HIV-prevention injection, marking the first public rollout of the drug in Africa, the region with the world’s highest HIV burden.
The injectable drug, lenacapavir, is taken twice a year and has been shown to reduce the risk of HIV transmission by more than 99.9 percent, making it comparable to a highly effective vaccine.
In South Africa, where an estimated one in five adults is living with HIV, a Wits University research unit is overseeing the initial rollout under a programme funded by Unitaid, a United Nations health agency.
Unitaid confirmed that the first individuals have started receiving the injection in South Africa, describing it as one of the earliest real-world uses of the six-monthly drug in low- and middle-income countries.
The agency did not disclose how many people received the first doses. A wider national rollout in South Africa is expected next year.
“The first individuals have begun using lenacapavir for HIV prevention in South Africa … making it among the first real-world use of the 6-monthly injectable in low-and middle-income countries,” Unitaid said in a statement.
Zambia and Eswatini, which received 1,000 doses last month through a United States-supported programme, were also expected to launch the drug on Monday during World AIDS Day events.
Under the initiative, manufacturer Gilead Sciences has committed to providing lenacapavir at no profit to two million people in high-burden countries over three years.
However, critics argue that this falls far short of demand and note that the drug’s commercial price, around $28,000 per person annually in the United States, is unaffordable for most people in Africa.
According to 2024 UNAIDS figures, eastern and southern Africa account for about 52 percent of the 40.8 million people living with HIV worldwide.