The first country in Africa, Zimbabwe, has authorized the use of long-acting injectable cabotegravir (CAB-LA) as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention.
“CAB-LA may be administered to people at considerable risk of HIV acquisition as part of comprehensive HIV prevention efforts,” the World Health Organization (WHO) states.
The LGBTQIA+ populations and sex workers are excluded from healthcare access in the majority of African nations due to laws and societal segregation.
In June of this year, the WHO encouraged nations to join this campaign after noticing a sharp increase in new HIV infections worldwide.
“HIV prevention efforts have stalled, with 1.5 million new HIV infections in 2021 – the same as in 2020. There were 4 000 new infections every day in 2021, with key populations (sex workers, men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs, people in prisons, and transgender people) and their sexual partners accounting for 70% of HIV infections globally,” WHO said at the time.
Injections of CAB-LA given every two months were shown to be safe, well-tolerated, and very effective at lowering the risk of contracting HIV, according to research.
One of the organizations fighting HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe is the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Their figures show that the prevalence of HIV has decreased from 26.5% in 1997 to 14.3% as of today, making it the fifth highest rate in the world.
There are worries that the country’s HIV prevalence rate could increase as Zimbabwe pushes for an R204 billion (US$12 billion) mining sector objective, which will lead to faster mining activities if health is ignored.
