PAHO and Gilead Partner to Bring Biannual HIV Prevention Shots to 14 Latin American Countries

Kenya has launched the first phase of its national HIV prevention campaign in Nairobi using lenacapavir, a long-acting injectable treatment administered twice a year that reduces the risk of HIV infection by more than 99.9%. It is not a vaccine, but a medication that helps prevent HIV transmission. (Credit: Photo: Simon Maina / AFP via Getty Images)

A single injection administered just twice a year promises to fundamentally transform HIV prevention strategies across Latin America. The Pan American Health Organization and pharmaceutical giant Gilead Sciences have finalized a landmark agreement designed to enable 14 countries across the region to procure lenacapavir, opening a direct pathway for public distribution of this highly effective injectable pre-exposure prophylaxis method.

The urgency driving this initiative stems from troubling epidemiological figures recorded over the past decade. Publicly available metrics from PAHO demonstrate that new annual HIV diagnoses across Latin America climbed 13 percent between 2010 and 2024, rising from 110,000 to roughly 120,000 cases each year. This upward surge stands in stark contrast to the Caribbean basin, where transmission rates have steadily declined over the same timeframe.