WHO Supports Rollout of New HIV Prevention Drug in 9 Countries
The World Health Organization has supported nine countries to begin rolling out Lenacapavir, a long-acting medicine designed to prevent HIV infection among people at high risk across several African nations.
Director-General of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, disclosed this during an online media briefing on global health priorities, which also covered advances in obesity treatment and efforts to eliminate cervical cancer.
Tedros described lenacapavir, approved for HIV prevention in 2025, as the most significant breakthrough in the fight against HIV since the first antiretroviral treatments were introduced nearly four decades ago.
He noted that although HIV has remained one of the most serious global public health challenges over the past 50 years, it has also become one of the most notable successes in disease control.
According to him, HIV, once widely seen as a death sentence, can now be managed effectively with modern medication, allowing millions of people living with the virus to live longer and healthier lives.
Tedros said improved treatment and wider access to antiretroviral drugs had helped reduce global AIDS-related deaths by about 70 per cent over the past two decades.
He explained that medicines originally developed to treat HIV were now increasingly used as preventive tools for people at substantial risk of infection.
Lenacapavir, he said, is not a vaccine but a long-acting antiretroviral drug administered once every six months to individuals who are HIV-negative but vulnerable to infection.
Clinical trials have shown the medicine can prevent almost all cases of HIV among people at risk, making it one of the most promising prevention tools currently available.
Tedros said the WHO issued official guidelines on the use of lenacapavir in July 2025 and granted prequalification in October, enabling global donors and partners to procure and distribute the drug more quickly.
“This is the first time WHO developed treatment guidelines and product prequalification at the same time, helping accelerate equitable access to an important public health innovation,” he said.
He added that over the past eight months the WHO had supported the rollout of lenacapavir in Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
South Africa became the first African country to approve the medicine in October 2025 and the third globally to authorise it for HIV prevention.
Tedros noted that President Cyril Ramaphosa had announced during the country’s 2025 State of the Nation Address plans for a large-scale rollout of the drug.
He also said South Africa had announced plans to manufacture lenacapavir locally to strengthen supply and expand access across the region.
However, Tedros warned that demand for the medicine currently exceeded supply, as orders placed through donor-supported programmes had not matched the growing need.
He said the WHO was working with governments, international donors and pharmaceutical manufacturers to increase production and ensure adequate supplies reach countries introducing the medicine.
The WHO chief also highlighted new progress in tackling obesity, noting that the organisation issued its first guideline in December 2025 recommending the use of GLP-1 therapies for treating obesity in adults as part of comprehensive care.
Tedros stressed that medication alone could not reverse obesity but, when combined with healthy diets, regular physical activity and professional medical support, could significantly improve outcomes.
He added that through the WHO Acceleration Plan to Stop Obesity, the organisation was supporting 34 countries representing about 1.3 billion people to reduce obesity prevalence by five per cent by 2030.
Tedros further highlighted the importance of the HPV vaccine in efforts to eliminate cervical cancer, noting that nearly 60 countries had introduced HPV vaccination programmes while 162 countries now include the vaccine in national immunisation schedules.
