“I feel lucky, empowered and safe”, says Samson Mutua, 27, shortly after becoming one of the first people in Kenya to receive lenacapavir, a twice-yearly jab that offers near-total protection against HIV. Mutua has taken daily pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) pills since 2017, part of Kenya's earlier prevention strategy. But the shift to a twice-yearly jab, he says, feels transformative.
Last month, Kenya became one of the first countries in the world to begin distributing lenacapavir. Described by scientists as the closest thing yet to a HIV vaccine, it has been heralded as a turning point in the global fight against the virus, including the 1.4 million Kenyans living with HIV, and the many more at risk.
