Medical institutions in Rwanda have been showing for some time that the AIDS infection in Rwanda is increasing among young people and prostitutes, so from December 2024 a program will be launched to inject people with the medicine 'cabotegravir long acting' which prevents a person from contracting AIDS.
CAB-LA, an injectable drug to prevent new infections of the AIDS virus, was approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2022.
Statistics show that there are more than 1.3 million new people infected with HIV, of which 63% are from sub-Saharan countries. In Rwanda, nine people are infected with AIDS every day.
This injection, given every two months, is expected to relieve the burden of people taking daily pills to prevent infection. CAB-LA helps the body develop immunity that prevents the virus that causes AIDS from entering the body and multiplying.
At first the person will be given two doses in two consecutive months, continuing to receive the injection after every two months.
IGIHE has learned that this program will start in two health centers in the city of Kigali, where the needle will be injected specifically to European workers, people living with one infected person and the other without infection, teenagers and young adults and others.
The CAB-LA drug was first administered by injection in Zimbabwe in 2022, and was later approved by health authorities in Zambia and South Africa, which approved its use but have not yet begun distribution.
The National Institute of Health, RBC, explains that the use of this method of preventing the transmission of the AIDS virus will reduce the problem of isolation given to those who take the daily pill.
In the past, various programs have been established to prevent new infections of the AIDS virus, including the provision of free condoms through shelters set up in different cities, but they did not produce the desired results.
Instead of shelters, condoms are provided by health counselors, but only 2% of young people ask for them.
Nirere Laurence, who is currently a health counselor in Rubavu District, recently told IGIHE that many young people are afraid to go there to take condoms, because they are afraid that they will find out that they are going to have sex.
He said, "They see that we are taking it badly when we know that they are going to have sex and they are afraid, but in the way we talk to them, we tell them that prevention is important, especially if you use a condom because you are preventing many diseases."
Statistics show that among young people there is a large number of new infections of the HIV virus, which is equal to 35%, with girls accounting for the majority.
Out of 100 people who die every day in Rwanda, seven are killed by AIDS.
