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The UN AIDS agency on Monday was pleased with the results of an antiretroviral, cabotegravir, which injected every two months helps protect women against the AIDS virus.
“A study shows that injections are 89 percent more effective in preventing HIV than pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) pills taken daily,” the agency said in a statement.
“These results are extremely important. UNAIDS has long called for further HIV prevention that is acceptable and effective for women and this could be a game changer, “says Winnie Byanyima, UNAIDS executive director.
“If donors and countries invest to distribute injectable PrEP to women who are at increased risk of HIV infection, new infections could be drastically reduced,” she said.
According to UNAIDS, the clinical trial involved 3,200 high-risk women between the ages of 18 and 45 in Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Eswatin, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
The trial was stopped early because the data clearly showed the superiority of the injections over the daily ingestion of a pill.
Four HIV infections occurred among the women who received the injections compared with 34 among those who took the pill.
“The risk of HIV infection was nine times lower with cabotegravir than with the daily pill,” the statement said.
UNAIDS sees these injections as an alternative to taking a daily tablet, using a condom or abstaining.
“The development of alternative methods to prevent HIV infection and less restrictive methods than those currently available will increase the choice in AIDS prevention and spread by women and reduce the number of infections,” insists in the press release.
“As with the Covid-19 vaccine, we now need to make sure these life-saving injections are available, affordable, and equally distributed to the people who will use them,” Ms. Byanyima said.
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