HIV: Lenacapavir, two injections per year, deployed in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa

Lenacapavir, a twice-yearly injectable medication that prevents HIV infection, is being deployed in South Africa, Kenya, Zambia, Nigeria, and Eswatini, Al Jazeera reported on October 1, 2026. Clinical trials conducted in 2024 in South Africa and Uganda recorded zero infections among more than 2,000 young women who participated.

The closest thing to a vaccine in medicine

For Carlota Baptista da Silva of Doctors Without Borders, quoted by Al Jazeera, this product is the "closest thing" to an HIV vaccine. Two injections per year replace the daily intake of a pill, a burden that weighs heavily where access to health centers is difficult and where stigma remains strong, particularly for young women.

The molecule was developed by the American laboratory Gilead. It is marketed in the United States for around $28,000 per year, while generic versions are announced at approximately $40 per year, according to figures cited by Al Jazeera. The large-scale rollout of these generics is not expected before 2027, however, and Gilead plans to supply three million people by 2028.

Twenty-six countries left out of the agreement

At least 26 middle-income countries are excluded from the licensing agreement that allows for the production of these low-cost generics, including Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Peru. These countries accounted for approximately 23% of new global infections in 2023, again according to Al Jazeera. No country should be left "excluded" from access to generics, argues Doctors Without Borders.

The timeline is also clashing with a decline in resources. International funding dedicated to the fight against HIV fell by 18% in 2025 to $7.3 billion, its lowest level in nearly twenty years. The number of people receiving preventive treatment (PrEP) dropped from 1.4 million in 2024 to 1.1 million in 2025.

The situation summarizes a long-standing inequality: an innovation tested in part on the continent, among African women, but whose distribution depends on licenses negotiated elsewhere and budgets decided elsewhere. Southern and East Africa remain the regions most affected by the epidemic. The next milestone is as much industrial as it is political: the market launch of generics in 2027, and the list of countries authorized to purchase them.