It’s hard to overstate how big a deal this new HIV prevention shot could be. The drug, called lenacapavir, works like a kind of semiannual vaccine — just two injections a year that can stop nearly all new infections. After decades of incremental progress, that’s a staggering scientific leap.
But as Future Perfect fellow Pratik Pawar reports, the story doesn’t end in the lab.
The same politics that have slowed HIV progress for years are already shaping who will get access to this important drug first. The Trump administration has made lenacapavir the centerpiece of its revived global health push — a good thing, really! — but with an emphasis on rolling it out through select programs, not the community-based clinics that have long reached the people most at risk.
We’re closer than ever to ending HIV, but the finish line still depends on who gets a seat at the table. At Vox, our reporters dig into the gap between what science can do and what politics will allow — all work made possible by our readers and Vox Members. If you appreciate reporting like this, consider becoming a Vox Member.
—Paige Vega, climate editor
