Six-monthly injections prevent HIV infection
A nearly normal life with HIV is possible today. With the right therapy, an infection no longer needs to be fatal. However, the goal remains to prevent infections - there seems to be a milestone in sight.
A half-yearly injected medication is said to reliably prevent an HIV infection according to research findings. The study, published in the "New England Journal of Medicine" (NEJM) and presented at the AIDS Conference in Munich, has raised great hopes in the fight against AIDS. At the same time, there is a demand on the pharmaceutical company Gilead to allow the production of affordable generics to make the medication widely accessible in heavily HIV-affected regions of the Global South. Lenacapavir has been approved for HIV therapy in several countries so far.
The study involved approximately 5338 girls and young women in South Africa and Uganda who were originally HIV-negative. Among the 2134 participants who received Lenacapavir injections twice a year, there were no infections. In contrast, there were a total of 55 HIV infections in the two other groups of around 3200 participants who received different oral PrEP medications. Sharon Lewin, President of the International AIDS Society (IAS), spoke of a "groundbreaking advancement."
Pressure on the Manufacturer
The manufacturer Gilead is increasingly facing demands to make the medication widely available in developing countries as soon and affordably as possible - and contribute to the worldwide goal of ending the HIV epidemic by 2030. According to researchers from Liverpool and NGOs, including Doctors Without Borders, the price of Lenacapavir in the USA is estimated to be around $40,000 per year. The UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima spoke at the opening of the AIDS Conference of a "wonder drug" that urgently needs to be made available to people in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. It is possible to make the medication available for $100 or less.
Above all, young women in Africa, as a particularly HIV-affected group, could benefit from this form of prevention. According to UNAIDS, 4000 young women are infected weekly worldwide, more than 3000 of them in Sub-Saharan Africa. Partly, women are discriminated against for taking the previously used daily oral PrEP with pills, for example, because it is assumed that they are infected.
The affordability of Lenacapavir, a medication proven to prevent HIV infections, is a pressing concern in HIV-affected regions. This is essential to achieving the worldwide goal of ending the HIV epidemic by 2030, as stated by UNAIDs and other organizations.
In the context of preventing infectious diseases like HIV, accessibility and affordability of efficient treatments, such as Lenacapavir, are crucial components of comprehensive education programs in combating the spread of HIV and AIDS.
