Guyana plans to buy long-acting HIV prevention anti-retroviral

Last Updated on Thursday, 11 December 2025, 19:54 by Writer

Guyana intends to purchase lenacapavir, an anti-retroviral that scientists say can offer protection against the HIV (human immuno-deficiency virus) that causes AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) for up to six months, according to health minister Dr Frank Anthony.

He said that pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), which is recommended  by the World Health Organisation (WHO), currently fetches a steep market price of about US$25,000 in places like the United States.

Dr Anthony said Guyana was preparing to negotiate purchases of that drug at a lower price in another year or two. “We’re hoping that when it goes off-patent that we’ll be able to access that medication at a cheaper cost which would then help. A lot of people have said that this can be a game changer in terms of HIV care and so we’re working with our partners to see how we can access that medication,” he said.

The health minister signaled that the government would offer lenacapavir free of cost if it becomes available at a lower off-patent price.

In South Africa, an agreement was reached in September 2025 between the Clinton Health Access Initiative in partnership with the Gates Foundation and other groups, including South African research institute, Wits RHI for about US$40 — around 0.1% of the original cost. The lower-cost version will be rolled out in 2027 across 120 low- and middle-income countries, the BBC reported.

Latest official figures show that 449 new HIV positive cases were reported last year in Guyana.

Dr Anthony the health sector was also ensuring that HIV+ persons were receiving treatment.

Dr Anthony said Guyana has detected 95 percent of Guyanese know their HIV status and not all of those who are positive were taking treatment.

He said the government was also working to ensure that those, who are receiving treatment, are virally suppressed and so would be unable to transmit the virus. “That’s the ultimate goal and that’s what we’re working towards so we have done a lot of work in this area and we want to maintain it,” he added.