By Kuda Pembere
Having received 2000 doses of Cabotegravir (CAB-LA), a long-acting injectable pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health and Child Care says they will roll it out next year.
Speaking at a Health Communicators Forum (HCF) media science café, a MoHCC officer in the AIDS and TB department Dr Idah Moyo said the product is currently being assessed at demonstration sites in the country.
So of note is that the Cabotegravir long-acting injection pre-exposure prophylaxis is being delivered under the demonstration site and is coming in according to what is already existing,” she said.
She said the country has 15 demonstration sites where they are currently assessing how recipients and providers of care perceive CAB-LA.
“I mean, the demonstration project, when we are implementing…we will be assessing as we go along. So it can take up to a year, because for the country to roll out, you should be having adequate evidence. I hope I answered your question. It can take up to a year, and the learnings will be analysed. The country will be analysing in the learnings of what is coming up,” Dr Moyo said.
She added, “This is a demonstration. We want to see how, because we also interact with the recipient of care that will be taking up the intervention.
“It means its getting the perspective from the recipient of care, you’re getting the insights from the providers of care.
“So all the stakeholders, even the stakeholders who may not have taken, just to see what they think. You balance those. Like if it’s implementation, it means you’re analyzing all those. If there are any learnings, any issues that need to be addressed before you roll out the whole country.”
Dr. Moyo emphasized that clinicians would give patients who visited the locations of demonstration sites the information they needed to select a relevant and suitable strategy based on their needs, preferences, and lifestyles, as well as the ability to make educated decisions from the range of PrEP products available.
She said people who are HIV negative are eligible for this PrEP emphasing that those who are at high risk of contracting HIV which include adolescent girls and young women, serodiscordant couples, sex workers to mention but these.
Dr Moyo said the clinicians will do eligibility assessments which involve HIV testing.
CAB-LA is an addition to the basket of biomedical HIV prevention tools available in the country. It is the third pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) medicine to be deployed in demonstration sites as part of the CATALYST program, which seeks to accelerate access to novel HIV prevention products.
The study established dapivirine rings and oral PrEP as HIV prevention options for women, and CAB-LA is the third product to be made available.
The Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) approved the dapivirine ring in 2021, and CAB-LA in 2022, making Zimbabwe the first Sub-Saharan African country to do so.
Since inception of oral PrEP in 2016, Zimbabwe has initiated 217 461 people and has been ranked 9 th highest country of PrEP initiations out of 120 countries reporting on PrEP use.
