Rwanda to launch six-month HIV injection on 1 December
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on The New Times (Rwanda)
Illustrative image · https://kaboompics.com/ · Pexels · Licence PexelsRwanda will begin offering free lenacapavir injections on 1 December, providing six months of protection against HIV at 12 health centres. The programme, rolled out across the five provinces and Kigali on World AIDS Day, targets people at high risk, according to the Rwanda Biomedical Centre.
Rwanda will begin administering lenacapavir, an HIV prevention injection offering six months of protection, on 1 December. The drug, which arrived in the country on 3 November, will initially be available free of charge at 12 health centres, according to the Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC). The launch will coincide with World AIDS Day.
The programme will cover Rwanda’s five provinces, including the City of Kigali, with district hospitals supporting the participating centres, reports The New Times. Lenacapavir will be offered alongside daily pre-exposure prophylaxis and injectable cabotegravir.
Access will be determined according to the risk of infection. Those targeted include sex workers, men who have sex with men and serodifferent couples, in which only one partner has HIV, Zephanie Nzeyimana, the RBC’s key populations strategy officer, told the newspaper. The selected centres are spread across Kigali and the Eastern, Western, Northern and Southern provinces.
