Winnie Byanyima, executive director of UNAIDS and United Nations under-secretary-general, at the launch of a project to expand HIV prevention services in South Africa, held at the Chinese Embassy in Pretoria, on November 20, 2025. PHILL MAGAKOE / AFP
South Africa, Eswatini and Zambia on Monday, December 1, began administering a groundbreaking HIV-prevention injection in the drug's first public rollouts in Africa, which has the world's highest HIV burden. Lenacapavir, which is taken twice a year, has been shown to reduce the risk of HIV transmission by more than 99.9%, making it functionally akin to a powerful vaccine.
In South Africa, where one in five adults lives with HIV, a Wits University research unit oversaw the rollout as part of an initiative funded by the international health agency Unitaid, which works on ensuring equitable access to medical innovations.
"The first individuals have begun using lenacapavir for HIV prevention in South Africa... making it among the first real-world use of the six-monthly injectable in low- and middle-income countries," Unitaid said in a statement. It did not specify how many people received the first doses of the drug, which costs $28,000 per person a year in the United States.
