Injectable HIV treatment offers hope to Ugandans

STORY: Gerald Muwonge tested positive for HIV eight years ago.

To keep his viral load in check, he has to carry around vials of pills for his daily treatment regimen while dodging the stigma this could mean for a gay man in Uganda.

But he hopes this could soon change thanks to an injectable treatment that only needs to be taken once every two months.

“I have heard of that coming injectable HIV treatment and I think it will be so perfect if doctors here in Uganda follow the procedures of giving it to some people, reasons to how it is going to be very important to my community, the LGBTI community."

In October last year, about 200 patients in Uganda began a trial of a World Health Organization-approved injection containing the drugs cabotegravir, or CAB-LA, and rilpivirine.

Results are due in 2024.

The treatment, developed by British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline, is the first non-pill option against HIV, and studies have shown it even outperforms the efficacy of oral pills, which Muwonge has been taking.

"These drugs, you have to take them every day and if you are taking them at exactly 9:00 am, it should be that way until you die.”

He says the strict regimen of taking the pills messes with his head.

Muwonge, who is not among the patients in the trial, said the new injectable treatment option could help to reduce the stigma HIV patients suffer, particularly gay men like himself.

Homosexuality is illegal in Uganda, and gay people often face arrest, ostracism and violence at the hands of law enforcement or local vigilantes.

In Uganda, at least 1.4 million people live with HIV/AIDS.