South Africa has made significant progress in promoting the long-acting HIV prevention drug Lenacapavir

China News Service, Johannesburg, September 8 — According to a report by the South African Government News Agency on the 8th, the South African Department of Health stated that "significant progress" has been made in the national rollout of the long-acting HIV prevention drug Lenacapavir, with 55,123 people having started using the medication as of September 7.

South Africa officially launched the Lenacapavir rollout project in June this year. Currently, the drug has been rolled out to approximately 360 public health facilities across 24 districts in 6 provinces of South Africa.

The South African Department of Health stated that females currently account for 71% of Lenacapavir users, mainly including pregnant and breastfeeding women. Healthcare workers and project partners are continuously monitoring drug usage, supply, healthcare service quality, user follow-ups, and medication safety.

Each injection of Lenacapavir provides approximately six months of preventive protection. South Africa is incorporating it as one of the measures in its comprehensive HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) program, providing it alongside other HIV prevention methods.

South Africa has one of the largest populations of people living with HIV in the world. Data released by Statistics South Africa in 2025 showed that approximately 8.15 million people in the country are infected, accounting for about 12.9% of the total population. The South African government plans to strive to end HIV as a public health threat by 2030. (End)