Gamechanger HIV injection rolls out in South Africa and Brazil
The first injection to offer long-lasting protection against HIV is being rolled out in South Africa and Brazil, as an alternative to daily medication.
UN agency UNITAID announced the groundbreaking development on Friday, which it is hoped will boost HIV prevention worldwide.
Developed by ViiV (pronounced VEEV) Healthcare and approved by the US health authority, the injection offers two months of protection against HIV. Its active ingredient is cabotegravir.
Like other HIV treatments, the anti-retroviral medication works by stopping the virus from replicating in the body, effectively reducing the viral load.
Although existing oral medication – known as “oral pre-exposure prophylaxis”, or oral PrEP - can prevent HIV in 99 per cent of cases, uptake has been slow and targets to reduce new infections have been missed.
The reasons for this include that people with HIV fear stigma, discrimination or intimate partner violence if they take the pill every day, said UNITAID spokesperson Herve Verhoosel.
“Long-acting PrEP could have a game-changing impact, improving choice and making HIV prevention a more viable option for more people,” Mr. Verhoosel told journalists in Geneva.
But he cautioned that the high cost of the injection – believed to be around $20,000 a year for wealthy nations – would be prohibitive elsewhere, so “adequate and affordable supply must be ensured so people everywhere can benefit without delay”.
In Brazil, UNITAID is supporting long-acting cabotegravir injections among transgender communities – 30 per cent of whom live with HIV - and men who have sex with men (18 per cent).
In South Africa, the target population is adolescent girls and young women, who are infected “at a disproportionately high rate”, the UN agency said.
“In sub-Saharan Africa, six in seven new HIV infections in adolescents occur among girls, and young women are twice as likely to be living with HIV as their male peers,” it noted.
In a related development on Friday, UNAIDS congratulated Zimbabwe for decriminalizing HIV transmission.
“Public health goals are not served by denying people their individual rights and I commend Zimbabwe for taking this hugely important step,” said UNAIDS Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima. “This decision strengthens the HIV response in Zimbabwe by reducing the stigma and discrimination that too often prevents vulnerable groups of people from receiving HIV prevention, care and treatment services.”
Ms. Byanyima’s comments followed the Zimbabwean Parliament’s decision to repeal section 79 of the Criminal Law Code on HIV transmission.
In its place President Emmerson Mnangagwa is expected to sign into law a new marriage bill adopted by Parliament.
According to UNAIDS, Zimbabwe has made great progress in the response to HIV over the past decade.
It is estimated that 1.2 million of the 1.3 million people living with HIV in the country are now on life-saving medicines. AIDS-related deaths have decreased by 63 per cent since 2010, with new HIV infections down by 66 per cent over the same period.
End
STORY: HIV Antiviral Injection - UNITAID
TRT: 3 min 44 s
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: FRENCH
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 18 March 2022 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
Institutionalised forced labour by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea constitutes grave violations of human rights – UN report
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Time is running out for starving civilians in Sudan, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday, while talks involving the country’s warring parties continue in Geneva this week.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
DRC faces a severe humanitarian crisis with 25M in need and rising conflict-related issues.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
A gimmer of good news emerged from Gaza on Tuesday as patients returned to at a newly reopened UN health centre in Khan Younis, six months after it was severely damaged and forced to close by heavy fighting, the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) said.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN condemns attacks on Kyiv hospitals, calls for immediate action to protect civilians.
1
1
2
Edited News | WHO
In Gaza, soaring temperatures, hunger and unsanitary conditions present an ever more deadly threat to a population under constant attack, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WMO , IFRC
Hurricane Beryl smashes into Caribbean, turns sights on Mexico As Hurricane Beryl’s destructive path shifted to Mexico on Friday after roiling the Caribbean, UN agencies and partners said that the emergency response was underway, before warning that a very long and damaging hurricane season looks increasingly likely.
1
1
2
Edited News | IOM , mcc , UNHCR
Refugees and migrants continue to face extreme forms of violence, exploitation and death on sea and on land across Africa as they attempt to leave the continent, UN agencies said on Friday, in an appeal to border authorities to do more to protect them.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk at the 56th Human Rigths Council, made the following update on the situation of human rights in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , WHO
New evacuation orders issued by the Israeli army for areas in southern Gaza are expected to impact 250,000 people, including eastern Khan Younis and Rafah, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , WHO
Gaza: People are desperate, they need everything, says UN aid agency Panic and desperation now grip ordinary Gazans struggling to survive, UN humanitarians said on Friday, amid fuel shortages of fuel and dwindling supplies that have prevented aid teams from doing their job.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA
UN aid teams and partner organizations remain deeply committed to delivering lifesaving supplies into Gaza, despite the increasing dangers of working there, the Organization’s top aid official said on Wednesday.