Overview
- The government has begun distributing lenacapavir, a twice‑yearly injectable form of PrEP that prevents HIV infection and offers an alternative to daily oral pills.
- A $29 million Global Fund grant paid for doses to cover roughly 456,000 people for one year and the program is being introduced with a focus on people at high risk of HIV.
- Early distribution is phased by province, with the Western Cape opening the first 22 clinics chosen to serve communities with high HIV burdens.
- Civil society groups and some public‑health experts warn the current supply is too small to cut national infection rates and call for at least 2 million doses per year; the president has set a target of reaching 3 million people in three years but has not detailed how that will be achieved.
- Health officials say a voluntary manufacturing license from Gilead could allow local generic production at about $40 per person per year, which would be key to expanding access amid clinic closures and other barriers to reaching key populations.