Malawi gets K16.1bn for HIV prevention jab

Malawi is expected to benefit from a three-year $15.3 million (K16.1 billion) public private partnership to expand availability of a highly effective jab to prevent HIV.

The partnership is between the Ministry of Health, O’Neil Institute for National and Global Health Law and Georgetown University’s Centre for Innovation in Global Health (CIGH), a joint initiative of Georgetown University Medical Centre in the United States of America.

A statement from the O’Neil Institute for National and Global Health Law states that together with the Ministry of Health leadership, a CIGH team will advance research and policy to scale up long-acting injectable pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) drugs to prevent HIV.

Reads part of the statement: “The Malawi injectable PrEP Path-to-Scale initiative, which will be formally launched in Malawi later in 2023, is the result of a year-long government-led consultation that has shaped Malawi’s approach to these new products.”

The statement states that the resulting studies will answer pressing local questions and support policy development that strengthens the global HIV response.

The introduction of the long-acting PrEP will be funded through a series of three grants to CIGH from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The funding is anticipated to support market access efforts including introduction planning, marketing segmentation, financing, supply chain, large-scale implementation science studies and policy formation.

“It will bring an injectable PrEP drug, long-acting cabotegravir [CAB LA] to 10 000 people across diverse population groups and delivery channels in 36 sites in Malawi’s capital city of Lilongwe and commercial centre, Blantyre, making it the largest such study being conducted globally,” further reads the statement.

Drug supplies will be provided by the United States President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar) through an agreement with ViiV Healthcare.

Unlike oral PrEP, the new drug is administered as an intramuscular injection every two months and clinical trials have shown that the drug is highly effective and safe in preventing HIV with an estimated 79 percent reduction risk and a lower rate of drug resistance than daily oral PrEP.

Georgetown University School of Medicine Professor of Medicine Charles Holmes is quoted in the statement as having said the drug will play a critical role in preventing the spread of HIV.

He said: “We are grateful for the opportunity to continue working in close collaboration with the Government of Malawi, our many talented local and global collaborators, Pepfar and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, all of whom have contributed to ensuring this cutting-edge work is maximally impactful for Malawi’s health system.”

Holmes said creating a pathway for innovative new tools like injectable PrEP for HIV is critical for reaching those most vulnerable to HIV.

Ministry of Health director of HIV and Aids Department director Dr. Rose Nyirenda is quoted as having said such efforts will serve as a model for other countries as they work to reach their 2030 health goals.

“Malawi has significantly expanded access to HIV services over the last two decades having led to a 70 percent decrease in Aids-related deaths since 2010 and has been a leader in HIV science,” she said.