Hazvinei Mwanaka
The Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) said 12 sites are giving the new long acting injectable HIV prevention medication Lenacapavir (LEN), as a combination of prevention strategies to curb new infections in the country, with more sites expected to open soon.
The Ministry said it is implementing LEN in a phased approach, prioritizing populations and districts with the greatest prevention need
The sites offering LEN at the moment are Bulawayo, Harare, Midlands, Matabeleland South, Manicaland and Mashonaland Central.
Speaking during a MoHCC Lenacapavir and HIV prevention media training facilitated by Organisation for Public Health Interventions and Development (OPHID) and Health Communicators Forum sponsored by the United States Government, Getrude Ncube the MoHCC National HIV Prevention Coordinator AIDS and TB programme, said site selection included a number of considerations.
“Choosing sites included a number of characteristics, including places where there are high incidence rates, highest number of new HIV infections, highest average Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake between the years 2023 to 2025, highest number of PLHIV not on ART and females in districts where male ART coverage is low,” she said.
“Phase 1 is ongoing until end of June and the second phase is starting July to December this year anticipating to cover up to 60 facilities and phase 3 will start January 2027 onwards,” she added.
Phase 2 areas that are expected to be covered include Seke, Mutare, Goromonzi, Zvimba, Sanyati, Mazowe, Chiredzi, Masvingo among others.
According to Ncube, a number of reasons contributed to the national rollout starting small.
“We were given few doses by the manufacturers and we are still using the branded Len from Gilead the supplier which is still expensive to us. However, we also want to localize, monitor and build capacity of our health professionals,” she said.
Doctor Idah Moyo, HIV Prevention Officer AIDS and TB programme with the MoHCC, said HIV negative people who are at substantial risk of contracting HIV should get PrEP.
“People whose sexual partner is living with HIV and is not yet virally suppressed and people with more than one sexual partner and those who do not always use condoms should use PrEP.”
She added that anyone who wants extra protection against HIV and is at risk of infection, even breastfeeding and pregnant women at risk of HIV can also get PrEP.
Moyo emphasized that LEN expands PrEP choice and is part of combination HIV prevention and does not replace condoms, HIV testing, ART, STI services or other prevention methods.