Did US aid cuts break precisely the things we need most for the lenacapavir rollout?

With a new six-monthly injection, South Africa last week launched the most promising new HIV prevention tool in years, but much of the infrastructure that made HIV prevention services accessible to high-risk groups has been dismantled over the last year. Amy Green asks whether we can successfully deliver this breakthrough technology without the trusted pathways that were decimated by cuts to aid from the United States.

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Interview: From a pig farm in Zim to star HIV researcher- Prof LGB reflects on her remarkable journey

Inside Professor Linda-Gail Bekker’s office a bookshelf is stacked with titles on general medicine, HIV and tuberculosis. Against the bookshelf, a mannequin leans dressed in a white doctor’s coat, sparkling tiara and pink Venetian mask, with a stethoscope protruding from her pocket. Known to colleagues as LGB, Bekker is one of South Africa’s top HIV researchers. Biénne Huisman chatted to Bekker about her remarkable career, finding new ways to reach young people, her love of both art and science and the thinking behind the slogan “get ripped, get prepped”.

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What new STI prevention findings mean for SA

Last year, Spotlight reported that taking a widely available antibiotic, doxycycline after condomless sex can reduce the risk of contracting three different sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Elri Voigt unpacks some further results from three studies presented at CROI2023 on Doxycycline as post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for STI prevention.

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