Kampala – The World Health Organisation (WHO) has cleared the use of an injectable HIV/AIDS drug within Uganda joining three other African countries where the drug has been approved for HIV/AIDS prevention.
This was revealed by the Uganda Aids Commission which said that the drug is considered to be an effective and user-friendly disease prevention measure compared to existing options.
The long lasting injectable cabotegravir (CAB-LAS) drug has been confirmed to be effective and is already being considered as key to national efforts to reduce the health burden of HIV/AIDS which claimed 17,000 lives in Uganda in 2022.
Dr. Byamukama, the head of the HIV prevention division at the Uganda AIDS Commission said that the roll out is slated for early 2024.
“We have made orders using the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS Malaria and Tuberculosis for injectable pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). You take one injection every two months. If you are HIV negative you will not contract HIV,” Dr. Byamukama noted, adding that the country is targeting 10,000 people in the first year and will increase by another 10,000 in the subsequent years who will benefit from the drug.
The drug was cleared by WHO after studies showed that it is safe and effective in preventing HIV infection and more convenient than oral pills according to Dr. Byamukama.
He added that what remains is for the relevant regulatory agencies to give the final endorsement for local applications in Uganda, which he expects to be done by the end of 2023, and then people will access it free of charge.
According to a 2020 report by WHO, one of the trials for the drug was done among 3,223 women aged 18-45 years in 20 sites in Uganda, Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and Zimbabwe.
The drug is produced under patent by ViiV Healthcare, a partnership of pharmaceutical corporations Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline and Shionogi based in the United Kingdom.
