{"id":70627,"date":"2025-07-15T08:05:57","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T08:05:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=70627"},"modified":"2025-07-15T08:05:57","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T08:05:57","slug":"who-approves-twice-yearly-hiv-injection-for-global-use","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2025\/07\/15\/who-approves-twice-yearly-hiv-injection-for-global-use\/","title":{"rendered":"WHO Approves Twice-Yearly HIV Injection for Global Use"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Olokuta Rofiat<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The World Health Organization (WHO), has approved the global use of lenacapavir, a twice-yearly injectable drug for HIV prevention, marking a major breakthrough in the fight against the virus.<\/p>\n<p>Announced on July 15, 2025, the approval paves the way for immediate international rollout of the long-acting antiretroviral, developed by Gilead Sciences.<\/p>\n<p>Lenacapavir, administered just once every six months, has shown high efficacy in preventing HIV infections, particularly among high-risk groups, including women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa, where nearly 60% of new cases occur.<\/p>\n<p>Describing the move as a \u201cgame-changer,\u201d Dr. Meg Doherty, WHO Director of Global HIV, Hepatitis, and STI Programmes, said the drug offers more flexibility and privacy, addressing challenges like stigma and pill fatigue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis twice-a-year option gives people more control over their health,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n<p>WHO is recommending lenacapavir be included in national HIV prevention strategies alongside existing options like daily oral PrEP and monthly vaginal rings, giving countries more tools to curb new infections.<\/p>\n<p>While the news has been welcomed by health advocates, they are also calling for affordable pricing, widespread public education, and equitable access, especially in low- and middle-income countries that bear the brunt of the epidemic.<\/p>\n<p>Nigeria, for instance, has over 1.8 million people living with HIV, with prevention remaining a significant challenge.<\/p>\n<p>Pending regulatory approvals, lenacapavir is expected to become available in selected countries by late 2025 or early 2026.<\/p>\n<p>With WHO\u2019s endorsement, experts say the drug offers new hope for millions and could significantly reduce global HIV transmission if supported by strong political will and robust healthcare systems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Olokuta Rofiat &nbsp; The World Health Organization (WHO), has approved the global use of lenacapavir, a twice-yearly injectable drug for HIV prevention, marking a major breakthrough in the fight against the virus. Announced on July 15, 2025, the approval paves the way for immediate international rollout of the long-acting antiretroviral, developed by Gilead Sciences. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":70628,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[184,172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70627"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70629,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70627\/revisions\/70629"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}