Closer to a cure? South Africa to pilot new injection for HIV prevention

By Hans Ngala (with ancillary details from News24, the US CDC website and Aidsmap)

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa will become the first African country to begin using an injection (instead of a pill) to prevent HIV in non-HIV infected people.
The announcement was made by the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) whose Reproductive Health and HIV Institute (Wits RHI) is piloting the study.
New modelling released last week showed that the injection could prevent as many as 52,000 new infections in the next 20 years if rolled out across South Africa. But for it to be cost-effective, the price must be affordable for ordinary citizens according to experts.
According to Wits RHI, the pilot phase of the injection will commence in early 2023 and will first be administered to adolescent girls and young women in South Africa.
The injection will contain the antiretroviral drug, cabotegravir and will be the first form of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to be administered by injection instead of being taken orally everyday as is currently the case. PrEP is a combination of HIV-prevention drugs given to those at high risk of HIV infection such as sex workers, those with an HIV-infected partner, those with multiple sex partners etc.
The injection will be administered once a month and scientists say this will be easier for those at risk of contracting HIV to take it as there is no stigma, compared to the current pills which make adherence slightly difficult for those taking PrEP.
South Africa has one of the highest HIV infection rates in the world, with the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reporting as many as 5.2 million people living with the virus in South Africa.
The new injectable drug is a significant stride in the fight against HIV/AIDS as there still is no cure, 40 years after the discovery of the virus.
According to Cameroon’s National AIDS Control Committee , there are 510,000 people living HIV/AIDS in Cameroon and over 91,000 are said to be eligible for treatment.
Scientists are working hard to find a cure and there is hope that a cure could soon be found but as of now, the age-old counsel remains: abstinence until marriage is the best way to prevent HIV/AIDS and if you must have sex, use a condom.
For those already infected, please adhere to your antiretroviral medication for a long and healthy life advises Mrs. Tamfu Hilda, a nurse practitioner in charge of the HIV Clinic at Etoug-Ebe Baptist Hospital in Yaounde.