The health department in the Western Cape has confirmed that most people who choose the lenacapavir injection are first-time users of the long-acting HIV prevention.
What is Lenacapavir?
Lenacapavir is an antiretroviral drug designed to both treat and prevent HIV. More importantly, lenacapavir is not a vaccine, but a highly effective HIV prevention medicine.
According to the Department, between June 8 and July 24, 2,339 lenacapavir injections were administered across 22 public health facilities in the Metro. Of the injections administered, 2,049 (87.6%) were people who were not previously taking oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), which means the programme is reaching thousands of residents who were previously not using long-acting HIV prevention.
Besides lenacapavir, a twice-a-year injection, PrEP can also be taken as a daily prescription pill, which has been available in South Africa since 2016.
The MEC for Health and Wellness, Mireille Wenger, said the early results demonstrate the value of giving people more choice in how they protect themselves against HIV.
“One of our greatest opportunities to reduce new HIV infections is to ensure that more people who are at risk choose an effective prevention option. What is particularly encouraging about these early results is that almost 88% of people receiving lenacapavir are new to PrEP. This means we are expanding access to HIV prevention and reaching people who may previously have found daily medication difficult or simply were not using PrEP at all,” Wenger said.
“Healthcare workers report that many patients have chosen lenacapavir because receiving one injection every six months is easier than remembering to take a tablet every day. The programme has also seen clients who previously struggled with daily oral PrEP successfully switch to the long-acting injectable option.”
According to the Department, the rollout has shown encouraging uptake among women who remain the most at-risk group. During the reporting period, 162 pregnant women-initiated lenacapavir, while a further seven antenatal patients switched from oral PrEP to injectable PrEP, strengthening HIV prevention during pregnancy.
The highest uptake has been recorded at:
Nolungile Community Day Centre: 192 administrations
Khayelitsha (Site B) Community Health Centre: 186 administrations
Phumlani Clinic: 182 administrations
The first phase of the rollout prioritised adolescent girls and young women, women of reproductive age, pregnant and breastfeeding women, as well as other key population groups at increased risk of HIV acquisition.
The next consignment of lenacapavir from the national Department of Health is expected in the first week of August, following completion of the required post-importation quality testing.
