{"id":465448,"date":"2026-06-07T13:42:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T13:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/465448\/"},"modified":"2026-06-07T13:42:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T13:42:10","slug":"gauteng-to-roll-out-lenacapavir-at-133-clinics-to-boost-hiv-prevention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/465448\/","title":{"rendered":"Gauteng to roll out Lenacapavir at 133 clinics to boost HIV prevention"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\tThe rollout forms part of a nationwide initiative led and announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa to expand HIV prevention.\n\t<\/p>\n

The Gauteng Department of Health is expected to roll out Lenacapavir, a groundbreaking twice\u2011yearly HIV prevention injection, at facilities across the province.<\/p>\n

The rollout forms part of a nationwide initiative led by the National Department of Health and announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa to expand HIV prevention options and accelerate progress towards ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.<\/p>\n

First batch<\/p>\n

South Africa received its first batch of Lenacapavir,<\/a> comprising 37 920 doses, in April 2026.<\/p>\n

The medicine, a six-monthly injectable, is part of the country\u2019s integrated and people-centred HIV prevention strategy.<\/p>\n

Gauteng<\/p>\n

Gauteng Health Department spokesperson Steve Mabona said as the country\u2019s most populous province and one of the regions carrying a significant HIV burden, Gauteng has been identified as a key implementation site for the first phase of the programme.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe province will introduce Lenacapavir at 133 facilities across Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Sedibeng and the West Rand, targeting populations at high risk of HIV infection.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sufficient stock<\/p>\n

Mabona said Gauteng has been allocated sufficient Lenacapavir stock to initiate treatment for 56 079 eligible clients across the province between 8 June 2026 and 31 March 2027.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe department has already received its initial allocation to initiate 18 809 individuals. Distribution to districts commenced on 24 May 2026 and has enabled facilities to prepare for implementation ahead of the official rollout on 8 June.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdditional stock will be supplied quarterly to ensure continuity of the programme and access to services,\u201d Mabona said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Training<\/p>\n

To prepare for implementation, the department has trained healthcare workers, pharmacists, programme managers and data personnel, established monitoring and reporting systems, and distributed clinical guidelines to support safe and effective implementation of the programme.<\/p>\n

\u201cPhase one of the rollout will prioritise adolescent girls and young women, adolescent boys and young men, key populations including sex workers, men who have sex with men, transgender persons and people who inject drugs, as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women who remain vulnerable to HIV infection,\u201d Mabona said.<\/p>\n

Dialogues<\/p>\n

Mabona said in an effort to increase public understanding of Lenacapavir and to enable eligible individuals to access HIV prevention services, the Department will support the rollout through facility activations, community dialogues, media engagements, radio campaigns, peer educator programmes and social media awareness initiatives.<\/p>\n

On Friday, Gilead applauded Pretoria and the Global Fund for accelerating access to Lenacapavir saying it marks an important step toward expanding access to Lenacapavir for communities most affected by HIV.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The rollout forms part of a nationwide initiative led and announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa to expand HIV…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":465449,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[29217,154161,26810,235795,134,23805,527,47980,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-465448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-aids","tag-cyril-ramaphosa","tag-gauteng","tag-gauteng-health-department","tag-health","tag-health-department","tag-healthcare","tag-hiv-aids","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=465448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/465449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=465448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=465448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}