HIV activists ask Uganda govt to approve long-acting injectable lenacapavir

HIV activists have asked Government to expedite approval of the long-acting injectable lenacapavir HIV prevention drug and make it available in public health facilities.

“Anything that is an addition to the toolbox of HIV prevention is very much welcome. We ask government to quicken the approval process to make the drug available to the public,” the director Senior Support Services, Milly Katana, has said.

Several stakeholders interviewed, including Katana, said that the new drug will enable the public to adhere to a user-friendly.

Katana adds that the injectable drug is very discreet, and it gives women the power over their sexuality. As such, their sexual partners will not know that they are using it.

Relatedly, the executive director of Family Rescue Initiatives, Jane Mwirumubi, said the approval of Lenacapivir is a very big breakthrough in the HIV fight.

Mwirumubi said the only limitation is the cost. She adds that there is need to advocate for easy access and affordability.  

The project manager for Support on AIDS and Life Through Telephone helpline, Peace Baguma, said the new injectable drug will help prevent HIV transmissions among young people and those in discordant relationships.

A discordant relationship is where one partner is living with HIV and the other is not. Couples who are discordant can still have very fulfilling lives and enjoy a healthy sex life if they use protection.

The director senior support services Milly Katana. (Credit: Agnes Kyotalengerire)

“We have been telling the young people to abstain but they are not. For those who cannot abstain, then they should go for the long-lasting injectable PrEP drug,” Baguma said.

The annual Joint AIDS Review Report 2023/2024 indicates that most of the new HIV infections are among young people aged 15 to 24 years, most especially adolescent girls and young women.

Senior research scientist Dr Flavia Matovu Kiweewa, who is the national principal investigator of  PURPOSE 1 study in Uganda, says the request for approval from World Health Organisation (WHO) is going to be expedited, andthe  Ministry of Health will come in to change the guidelines after approval from National Drug Authority.

These remarks follow the approval of the Uganda-tested long-acting injectable lenacapavir HIV prevention drug by the US Food and Drug Administration.

A study known as PURPOSE Study 1 in South Africa and Uganda among 5,328 adolescent girls and young women aged 16 to 25 years revealed that those who got the injection twice a year were not infected with HIV, hence resulting in 99.9% prevention rate, consequently outperforming the daily oral PrEP pill.

The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine and, based in part on the trial results, in December 2024, the journal Science named lenacapavir the “2024 Breakthrough of the Year."

The new medicine will be sold under the name: Yeztugo. It is administered by injection once every six months and is a significant step in improving prevention options for people at risk of HIV infection globally.

Jane Mwirumubi

HIV burden

The national HIV prevalence among the adult population (15-49 years) has continued to decline, standing at 5.1% from 5.5% in 2020.  This means that in a crowd of 100 people, there are only five who are infected with HIV.

Notably, the prevalence is still higher among women (15 to 49 years) at 6.6% compared to the men in the same age bracket at 3.6%, according to the annual Joint AIDS Review Report 2023/2024.

New HIV infections reduced from 46,000 in 2020 to 38,000 in 2023, which translates into 100 people getting infected with HIV every day.

The same report indicates that in a space of one year, only 4,700 children between 0 to 14 years acquired HIV infection from their positive mothers, hence translating into a 5.04 % infection rate. This is a reduction from 5,900 new HIV infections that were recorded among children in 2023.

In 2020, the country registered 21,000 AIDS-related deaths, and they have just slightly reduced to 20,000 for June 2024, against the 2025 target of 10,800.

An estimated 1,492,410 people were living with HIV as of December 2023, and of those, there are more women than men living with HIV.