South Africa’s leadership is working to end the HIV epidemic. The rollout of long acting injectable (LAI) preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP), Lenacapavir (LEN) began in the Mpumalanga province. South Africa is the 9th African country to begin this endeavor. “South Africa’s rollout of lenacapavir demonstrates the country’s continued commitment to expanding access to innovative HIV prevention tools,” said Dr Tereza Kasaeva, Director of WHO’s Department for HIV, TB, Hepatitis and STIs. She also noted that the “urgency of the intervention is reflected in South Africa’s HIV statistics. In 2024, the country recorded approximately 150,000 new HIV infections, with women and girls accounting for 59% of those cases. More than 71,000 new infections occurred among adolescent girls and young women aged between 15 and 24.”
South Africa finalized their LAI Guidelines in December 2025. PrEPwatch has the details of the implementation: https://www.prepwatch.org/resources/south-africa-lenacapavir-implementation-guidelines-2025/