South Africa currently has 200,000 new HIV infections per year — 130,000 of them among young women.
CAB-LA stands for long-acting cabotegravir — cabotegravir is an antiretroviral drug that some HIV-infected people use, together with other ARVs, to keep the virus in their bodies from making copies of itself. When such medicine is used to prevent HIV infection — that is, if it’s taken before exposure to HIV — it’s called pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP.
Before Roberts took CAB-LA, she used a daily HIV prevention pill that consists of two ARVs, tenofovir and emtricitabine, for five years — but it was difficult to remember to swallow it each day. “That’s why I’m relieved that I now only have to come to the clinic once every eight weeks,” she says. “I feel safer and can relax.” Roberts isn’t the only person for whom CAB-LA works better than a daily pill. Studies have found that the jab works 66% better in men who have sex with men and transgender women and is 88% more effective at preventing HIV infection in young women than oral PrEP.
By 2025, South Africa wants to more than halve yearly new infections to 74,000 or fewer, but that will be through many methods, not just CAB-LA. This could include, for instance, increasing the number of HIV-positive people on treatment ; getting people to take oral PrEP; making available a vaginal ring, which women can insert to help prevent infection and that the health department will soon start to procure; promoting condom use and advocating for delayed sexual debut among teens.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
South Africa: Govt Relooks Its HIV/Aids Treatment Plan - South African News Briefs - December 1, 2022
Read more »
South Africa: Govt Reviews Its HIV/Aids Treatment Plan - South African News Briefs - December 1, 2022
Read more »
Best bang-for-buck gaming laptops in South AfricaGaming laptops with respectable performance start from around R16,000 in South Africa.
Read more »
If the price is right, the anti-HIV jab could be in clinics by August 2023South Africa’s medicines regulator will announce a decision on the approval of a two-monthly HIV prevention jab within days. If the shot is approved, the health department could start rolling it out on a large scale within nine months — but that depends on the injection’s price.
Read more »
The anti-HIV jab could be in clinics by August 2023South Africa’s medicines regulator, Sahpra, will announce a decision on the approval of the new HIV prevention jab within days. | via Bhekisisa_MG WorldAidsDay
Read more »
The anti-HIV jab could be in clinics by August 2023The shot is taken every two months and virtually wipes out someone’s chances of contracting HIV through sex. | via Bhekisisa_MG WorldAidsDay
Read more »