South Africa's health minister hails planned rollout of new HIV prevention jab

South Africa's health minister on Tuesday hailed the planned rollout of the new HIV-prevention jab, but warned that the initial donated supply would be limited.

Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said the drug would be distributed to about half a million people across the country, which has the world’s highest HIV prevalence rate.

Taken only twice a year, the new drug, lenacapavir (LEN), could end HIV/Aids in South Africa within 14 to 18 years, if enough people take it.

It has been found to work 100 per cent of the time to stop young women from getting HIV through sex, but also works well for other groups.

Of the about 400 people in South Africa who still get infected each day, more than a quarter are teen girls and young women.

Motsoaledi’s comments come just weeks after the United States announced plans to buy two million doses of the HIV prevention drug for low-income countries.

The rollout of the jab is set to begin in April 2026, funded by a $29.2 million Global Fund grant, with an additional $5 million allocated by the Networking HIV and AIDS Community of Southern Africa.

Addressing a national healthcare roundtable dialogue in Johannesburg, Motsoaledi said the donation will deliver around 456,000 LEN initiations over two years, translating into 912,000 doses.

“We plan to roll out lenacapavir initially in about 23 high-incident districts across six provinces, targeting around 360 high-performing public clinics within these areas for phase one implementation,” he said.

Motsoaledi said research suggests that prioritising vulnerable populations in high-burden districts first, would result in the highest impact in terms of new infections prevented.

But he was quick to caution against complacency.

Abrupt cuts to funding from USAID and other sources has significantly impacted HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis treatment, prevention, and research programmes across the country.

Although Motsoaledi said he was grateful that Gilead had lowered the price from the $28,000, initially touted to $40, per person annually, he said South Africa aimed to fund its programme independently.

Long-term funding hinging on LEN’s integration into local systems, such as the essential medicines list.

In July, the World Health Organization recommended the six-month HIV prevention jab as an additional prevention choice as part of combination approaches.

Gilead is expediting registration in 18 high-incidence countries, including South Africa, to deliver LEN until generic versions become available in 2027.