TAKING A SHOT IS AFRICA CLOSER TO ENDING AIDS?

SEVERAL COUNTRIES ON THE CONTINENT ARE AMONG THE FIRST IN THE WORLD TO ADOPT THE USE OF LENACAPAVIR, A NEW, TWICE-YEARLY, LONG-ACTING INJECTABLE DRUG FOR HIV PREVENTION, PRICED AT AROUND $40 PER PERSON ANNUALLY, IN AN EFFORT TO CURB NEW INFECTIONS AND ADVANCE GLOBAL REDUCTION TARGETS. HOWEVER, CONCERNS ARE GROWING THAT INADEQUATE ACCESS COULD HINDER ITS EFFICACY ON THE CONTINENT.

- OLUWATOMISIN AMOKEOJA

For months, Abuja-native, Kareem Samsudeen Adebola, had rehearsed a particularly-tough disclosure in his head: how to explain to someone important to him, that he was living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). But, unfortunately for Adebola, producer of Call Me Shamsz, a documentary formulated to advance HIV destigmatization, disclosure dialogue, and public awareness, things didn’t work out as he planned.

Across Africa, millions of people living with HIV-a figure estimated to be approximately 65% of the global 40.8 million people, as at the end of 2024, as per the World Health Organization (WHO)-navigate versions of the same conversation every day: disclosure, dealing with stigmas, medication and survival.

Now, scientists believe that a new injectable drug, priced at around $40 per person annually, in 120 lowand middle-income countries (LMICs), could transform not only HIV prevention, but also the social realities surrounding the epidemic itself.

Generating Global Hope

Administered only twice a year, Lenacapavir, developed by United States (U.S.) drugmaker, Gilead Sciences, has shown near-total effectiveness in preventing HIV infection among participants in two clinical trials.

The first real-world use in LMICs took place in South Africa, as part of a study funded by Unitaid and led by Wits RHI at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

Further to this, at least eight African countries have reportedly begun receiving shipments of the HIV-prevention injection. The countries are among the 18 that represent roughly 70% of the HIV burden in the region, and are covered by Gilead’s voluntary licensing agreements with generic drugmakers.