Poorer countries get access to HIV prevention drug

deal to procure lenacapavir for low and middle-income countries.

Agence France-Presse·11 July 2025, 2:34 am·1 MIN READ

Poorer countries get access to HIV prevention drug — A patient shows a Vulante tablet, a medication and specifically a combination of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and lamivudine, used for the treatment of HIV infection in adults aged 18 years and older at his home in Msogwaba township near Mbombela on March 12, 2025. The halt to US foreign aid risks "reversing" gains hard won over decades of global efforts to contain the AIDS pandemic, the United Nations said Thursday. Around 31.6 million people were on antiretroviral drugs in 2024 and deaths from AIDS-related illnesses had more than halved since 2010, the UN's UNAIDS agency said in a new report, but infections were likely to rise as funding cuts have shuttered prevention and treatment programmes.
Phill Magakoe/AFP

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GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Lower-income countries will gain access to a “game-changing” HIV prevention drug with a new deal signed between with US pharmaceutical giant Gilead and the Global Fund, the health financing group said Wednesday.

The group set up to battle AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, described the deal to procure lenacapavir for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) as “a significant milestone.”

“This marks the first time in history that an HIV prevention product will be introduced in LMICs at the same time as in high-income countries,” the Global Fund said in a statement.

Drugs to prevent HIV transmission, known as pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP, have existed for more than a decade. But because they typically require taking a daily pill, they have yet to make a significant dent in global infections.

“This is not just a scientific breakthrough -— it’s a turning point for HIV/AIDS,” Global Fund chief Peter Sands said.

“For the first time, we have a tool that can fundamentally change the trajectory of the HIV epidemic -— but only if we get it to the people who need it most.”