The World Health Organization applauds the country’s ‘crucial step’ in supporting it’s use long-acting injectable cabotegravir (CAB-LA)
Zimbabwe is the first African country and the third in the entire globe to accept an HIV prevention drug lately endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The use of the long-acting intravenous cabotegravir (CAB-LA) has already been approved by regulatory bodies in both Australia and the United States, and the WHO has applauded Zimbabwe’s decision.
Aids-related deaths in the country have decreased from an approximated 130,000 in 2002 to 20,000 in 2021 as a result of the country’s HIV-fighting efforts.
It launched a proactive plan to end Aids by 2030 last year and has already met the 90-90-90 target, which means that 90% of people with HIV are aware of their status, 90% are receiving antiretroviral treatment, and 90% have the virus suppressed.
The Zimbabwean healthcare system is in shambles as a result of the country’s economic crisis, and no one from the Ministry of Health was accessible to provide feedback on the new medicine.
The WHO stated in a statement that regulatory approval was a “critical step,” and that it would assist Zimbabwe in “designing and developing programs so that CAB-LA can be put in place safely and effectively for maximum impact.”
The drug has revived hopes of further decreasing deaths in southern Africa, and it follows the WHO’s recommendation in July that CAB-LA is highly effective at lowering the risk of HIV infection among people in same-sex relationships.
“Accelerating HIV prevention for girls and young women requires expanding the options available,” said Nyasha Sithole of the Development Agenda for Girls and Women in Africa (DAWA) network. I am thrilled and proud to learn that CAB-LA has been approved for use in my own country. This will add to our arsenal of HIV prevention tools that are effective for us as Zimbabwean girls and women.”
