Since this Wednesday, Mozambique has a new weapon in the prevention of HIV/AIDS. It is Lenacapavir, an injection launched by the Minister of Health which, administered twice a year, reduces the risk of infection and comes as a response to one of the most persistent public health challenges in the country.

Health sector data reveal the scale of the problem: every year, the country records around 92,000 new HIV infections, with particularly high incidence among adolescents and young people. At the same time, adherence to treatment continues to face serious obstacles, in a context still marked by stigma and discrimination.

Against this backdrop, the Minister of Health presented Lenacapavir this Wednesday, in Maputo province, as a new means of protection against the disease. As he explained, the introduction of this medicine adds to the range of options already available in prophylaxis and could ease the pressure on patients and on the health system itself.

“This introduction widens the range of prophylactic prevention medicines. This will reduce the pressure on us. People have been taking medication every month. Now the pressure will be reduced because they will have one injection twice a year,” he said.

The new injectable method is to be administered in two doses, six months apart, but the authorities stress that it should not be used in isolation. The strategy, they argue, must be combined with other measures that are already well known and considered essential in the fight against the epidemic.

“This prevention method should not be implemented in isolation. It must be combined with condom use, rapid testing, antiretroviral treatment and education campaigns for social and behavioural change,” was also explained during the launch.

In an initial phase, Lenacapavir will be made available at 55 health facilities. The priority focus will be on adolescents and young people aged 15 and over, a group identified by the authorities as particularly vulnerable.

“We will start with the health facilities in the cities and province of Maputo and Zambézia. When people talk a lot about the so-called demographic dividend, this is that group. That is why this injection will be given from the age of 15. Because this is the group we have to save,” the minister declared.

With this decision, Mozambique joins the group of nine African countries already using this method of protection, which is produced in the United States of America. The Minister of Health also reiterated that Lenacapavir will be free of charge and that it should be administered exclusively at health facilities.