Overview
- National guidance recommends cabotegravir (CAB‑LA) for people who cannot take oral PrEP, with NHS rollout in the coming months for about 1,000 patients.
- CAB‑LA is initiated with two injections one month apart and then given every two months in sexual health clinics, offering an option for those with contraindications or barriers to daily pills.
- Zimbabwe has been selected among 10 countries for the first deployments of twice‑yearly lenacapavir, which WHO and UNAIDS have praised following highly efficacious trials.
- South Africa plans a first phase of lenacapavir from March or April 2026 in 23 high‑incidence districts via about 360 clinics, prioritising pregnant and breastfeeding women, adolescent girls, sex workers, and men who have sex with men.
- The United States approved a PEPFAR Bridge Plan worth US$115 million to sustain HIV services in South Africa from 1 October 2025 through 31 March 2026.