On July 12, WHO issued new guidelines recommending twice-yearly injectable lenacapavir as an additional option within combination HIV prevention—a pivotal moment in global prevention efforts. Relative to daily oral tenofovir disoproxil fumarate–emtricitabine, lenacapavir reduced HIV incidence by 100% in the PURPOSE 1 trial and by 89% in PURPOSE 2. Lenacapavir’s high efficacy and biannual dosing could address adherence and access barriers hindering the scale-up of oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). The guidelines support rapid diagnostic tests for initiating and continuing lenacapavir but fail to recommend HIV self-testing (HIVST) for long-acting injectables, citing insufficient evidence.
This exclusion raises a key question: how can the promise of decentralised HIVST be balanced with safety requirements for potent, long-acting PrEP?
Read the full correspondence, elaborating on this question, at The Lancet HIV.
Source : The Lancet HIV
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