{"id":52558,"date":"2025-01-09T12:43:43","date_gmt":"2025-01-09T12:43:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/rwanda-launches-pilot-program-for-injectable-prep-to-combat-hiv\/"},"modified":"2025-01-10T19:13:01","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T19:13:01","slug":"rwanda-launches-pilot-program-for-injectable-prep-to-combat-hiv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/rwanda-launches-pilot-program-for-injectable-prep-to-combat-hiv\/","title":{"rendered":"Rwanda launches pilot program for injectable PrEP to combat HIV"},"content":{"rendered":"

The new medication, designed to reduce the risk of HIV infection among individuals, is being tested at two health centers in Kigali: Gikondo and Busanza.<\/p>\n

The pilot phase began on January 3 and is expected to last for a year, during which time the effectiveness and acceptance of the treatment will be evaluated. Based on the results, plans for a nationwide rollout may follow.<\/p>\n

Dr. Basile Ikuzo, the Director of the HIV Prevention Unit at the Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC), explained that the injectable form, known as Cabotegravir (CAB-LA), is administered once every two months. <\/p>\n

The treatment offers a significant advantage over the daily oral PrEP regimen, providing a more convenient and discreet option for individuals facing adherence challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not for the general population but specifically for high-risk groups such as female sex workers, men who have sex with men (MSM), discordant couples, and adolescent girls and young women,\u201d Dr. Ikuzo told The New Times. <\/p>\n

The new injection could also help reduce the stigma often associated with daily oral PrEP, particularly among younger people.<\/p>\n

Rwanda has seen notable success in its fight against HIV, with new cases dropping from 10,000 annually a decade ago to around 3,000 today. <\/p>\n

Dr. Ikuzo emphasized that expanding prevention methods is crucial to continuing this progress. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis initiative is part of our broader strategy to ensure everyone at risk has access to the best tools for protection,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Injectable PrEP, like oral PrEP, will be provided free of charge, and the RBC has already begun efforts to raise awareness about this new option. A larger public education campaign is expected to roll out by the end of June, targeting those most at risk.<\/p>\n

\"Rwanda<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rwanda has rolled out a pilot program for long-acting injectable pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) as part of renewed efforts to combat HIV\/AIDS.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000079993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[75],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-52558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","tag-homenews","byline-wycliffe-nyamasege"],"bylines":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"contributors":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"featured_image":{"id":2000079993,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/dce05f01-586e-4a67-831f-03536827c643-61c1c.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/dce05f01-586e-4a67-831f-03536827c643-61c1c.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/dce05f01-586e-4a67-831f-03536827c643-61c1c.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/dce05f01-586e-4a67-831f-03536827c643-61c1c.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/dce05f01-586e-4a67-831f-03536827c643-61c1c.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/dce05f01-586e-4a67-831f-03536827c643-61c1c.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52558"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52558\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000079993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52558"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=52558"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=52558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}