Patients – not all HIV positive – in the waiting area of Munhava health centre on 09 April, the first day of the full re-opening of MSF’s HIV program after Cyclone Idai. The MSF-supported Munhava health centre covers one of Beira’s broadest catchment areas where there are some 8,000 patients with HIV.
Mozambique

MSF hands over first long-acting HIV prevention project in Beira to the Mozambique Ministry of Health

Article22 May 2026

BEIRA, MOZAMBIQUE, 22 May 2026  – This week, the roll-out of a game-changing new HIV prevention method, cabotegravir (CAB-LA), will start in Beira through the Ministry of Health. This follows early results from an implementation study by Doctors without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) offering CAB-LA to people at risk of HIV, including men who have sex with men, sex workers and transgender people, which is expected to conclude in June 2026. 

CAB-LA is an injection, administered every two months, which has been proven to be highly effective at preventing HIV. It is considered as a potential game-changer because it removes the need to take a PrEP pill every day to prevent HIV – something that is often difficult for people who move frequently or face privacy concerns or stigma. CAB-LA addresses these practical challenges by offering an effective prevention method that does not require a daily pill or storing medication at home, giving people discretion and options in how they manage their health. 

"Our objective was to demonstrate that this prevention tool could be effectively provided to the groups who face the highest barriers to care," said Dr Antonio Flores, a senior HIV advisor at MSF’s Southern Africa Medical Unit and the study’s lead investigator. “Preliminary data from the Beira study shows that CAB-LA can be successfully implemented in this setting, and in fact that people on CAB-LA are at least twice as likely to continue on it than they are on oral PrEP, meaning they are protected from HIV for longer.”

With the programme's viability established, MSF will provide a donation of 675 doses of CAB-LA stock to Mozambique’s Ministry of Health and after a period of providing training and technical support, is handing over the delivery of CAB-LA in Beira. "This transition ensures that communities in Beira will continue to have access to this important HIV prevention tool within the public health system” said Dr Romao Sabuni, MSF medical manager in Beira and a lead co-investigator in the study. "Beyond ensuring the immediate continuity of CAB-LA, this transition supports the development of an HIV prevention 'choice model' in Mozambique. There are multiple methods of HIV prevention, but not all of them suit everyone, or are available everywhere, so it’s important to be able to offer as many choices of prevention methods as possible.” 

The only other form of long-acting injectable PrEP currently available, lenacapavir, is not available in Beira. A relatively limited supply of lenacapavir has been allocated to Mozambique through an agreement between the drug’s manufacturer (Gilead Sciences), PEPFAR and the Global Fund, but Beira is not one of the first round of implementation sites for lenacapavir. The Ministry of Health’s adoption of CAB-LA delivery therefore means that a form of long-acting injectable PrEP can continue to be available in the area.

“This situation illustrates the importance of ensuring we have a variety of HIV prevention options available for people; not only so that they have choice, but also so that continuity of care and a sustainable supply of long-acting tools can be maintained.” said Dr Flores.

“CAB-LA remains an important transitional tool. It is encouraging to see that the Ministry of Health has adopted a forward-looking approach by continuing to provide a long-acting HIV prevention option in Beira through CAB-LA.”