Overview
- About 1,000 doses arrived last week under the U.S.-backed plan, with roughly 500 each delivered to Zambia and Eswatini as initial recipients.
- A senior State Department official confirmed that U.S.-funded doses will not go to South Africa, which plans a limited rollout next April supported largely by the Global Fund.
- The U.S. initiative with Gilead, PEPFAR and the Global Fund targets reaching two million people over three years, with this year’s planned allocation raised to 325,000 doses due to early demand.
- Gilead said it is working with additional governments and has filed for marketing authorization in Rwanda, Tanzania, Botswana and other countries, offering the drug at roughly $40 per person annually in lower-income markets.
- Advocacy groups condemned the U.S. decision to exclude South Africa, and experts cautioned that constrained early supply and aid cuts risk limiting prevention gains.