Kalisizo, Uganda — Along the deeply rutted red dirt roads of central Uganda's Lake Victoria coast, there is little for miles beyond banana groves and bustling markets. The landscape is unassuming — and very dusty. Yet few places have done more to shape HIV care.
For the past three years, the soft-spoken 22-year-old, who is HIV-negative, has been a participant in one of the most influential HIV clinical trials. She asked NPR to only use her first name for fear of discrimination within her community, where participating in an HIV trial can lead others to assume she has HIV. She was motivated to participate by her uncle, who lives with HIV.
"I can see that his life is so hard. Like he gets strong illnesses and even right now he's so slim," she says. "Once you get it, your life changes for the worse." This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center.
But HIV is now in the rearview mirror for Irene and her baby, due in three weeks. Thanks to a medication called lenacapavir, she no longer worries about acquiring HIV, which affects 13% of people in her district. The drug is currently only approved for HIV-negative individuals to prevent them from getting the disease.
In the medical world that's called pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP. Unlike other PrEP, lenacapavir tackles two major barriers: adherence and efficacy. Lenacapavir takes the place of a daily pill.
It's injected into the abdomen, releasing into the body slowly over time. Patients receive the jab only twice a year at the trial site (an oral version of the drug exists but it requires more frequent dosing). And the promise of this drug is extraordinary.
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