South Africa gets lion's share of Lenacapavir doses in Africa

Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi says South Africa has received the lion's share of Lenacapavir doses on the continent. Nine countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Zambia, have secured access to the drug. The new injectable HIV/AIDS prevention drug was officially rolled out in Mpumalanga on Friday.

Motsoaledi stated that the drug is expensive, but a global fund has assisted in providing the continent with two million doses. “Remember, I informed you that the pill is very expensive. It’s sold in America. It’s twenty-eight thousand dollars to treat one person per year, which there is no country here on our continent that will ever be able to afford. It’s impossible. But what has happened is that the global fund, which has always been funding HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria for the past more than two decades, stepped in to buy two million doses for those African countries that are poor. We got the lion’s share in South Africa at 900,000 doses. That’s what we’re given.”

The Minister hailed the antiretroviral drug as a powerful instrument in the fight against HIV and AIDS, saying the drug is aimed at preventing HIV negative individuals from contracting the virus. Motsoaledi added that four pills must be taken after the injection has been administered.