New trial gives young women hope of complete protection from HIV

A large clinical trial conducted in South Africa and Uganda shows that an injection administered twice a year can give young women 100% protection against HIV.

The trial sought to establish whether the six-month injection of lenacapavir would provide better protection than two other pre-exposure drugs, both pills taken daily.

All three are pre-exposure prophylaxis (or PrEP) drugs.

Medical Research teams from the University of Cape Town led the South African part of the trial.

UCT professor of Medicine Linda Gail-Bekker says, “This breakthrough gives great hope that we have a proven, highly effective prevention tool to protect people from HIV. HIV scientists and activists hope that young people may find that having to make this “prevention decision” only twice a year may reduce unpredictability and barriers.”

VIDEO | HEALTH: Breakthrough on HIV/AIDS Trials with Prof Linda-Gail Bekker