Malawi rolls out injectable HIV PrEP

Malawi has started administering the long-acting injectable pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to further reduce HIV infections in the country.

The injectable PrEP is an initiative intended to replace the oral Prep in the medium to long-term.

Speaking at a press briefing in Lilongwe on Monday, Ministry of Health Department of HIV and Aids and Viral Hepatitis director Rose Nyirenda said the roll out will be on pilot basis with first implementation in Blantyre and Lilongwe, where 2023 assessments showed new infections were high.

She said: “We have started implementation of long-acting injectable PrEP in Blantyre and Lilongwe because these are the two districts that in the past two years have registered high numbers of people who are getting infected among st all the other districts.

“The other reason is because we received a donation of 9 000 doses from the United States government, which would not have been adequate to use across the country.”

Nyirenda said the long-acting injectable PrEP is taken at intervals of two months and is more effective as it remains active for a longer period of time while the oral PrEP is administered or taken daily.

She added that Blantyre residents can access the injectable Prep at Chilomoni Health Centre, Limbe Macro and Naperi Drop-in Centre while in Lilongwe the facilities are Area 25 Health Centre, Bwaila Hospital and Area 47 Drop-in Centre.

Nyirenda said the implementation in the six health facilities in Blantyre and Lilongwe will guide on scaling up to additional 41 selected health facilities nationwide in September this year.

“Prep is given to people that are at high risk of getting infected. People will have to be properly assessed when seeking the service to check if they are at a substantial risk of contracting HIV,” she said.

On her part, National Aids Commission director of programmes Chimwemwe Mablekisi said the injectable PrEP is crucial in ensuring that the country reduces HIV and Aids as a health threat by 2030.

She said: “For the country to achieve that goal, there is need to ensure that there are as many HIV and Aids prevention methods as possible.

“We have HIV and Aids prevention combination and through that, we are continuously introducing new products. And injectable PrEP is one of them.

However, she cautioned that PrEP does not prevent people from contracting other sexually transmitted infections, as such, there is need to also use other prevention methods.

Injectable Prep can protect a person from contracting HIV for two months and it is required that one gets injected every two months to be properly protected, according to the ministry. According to the Malawi Population Based HIV Assessment Survey, Malawi has reduced HIV incidence from four per 1 000 people in 2016 to two per 1000 people currently.