Cambodia just became the second Asian nation to offer game-changing HIV shots that last for months. Thailand led the way first, but Cambodia jumped on board after health experts recommended the new medicine back in 2022. A female sex worker and a transgender person received the very first doses of this breakthrough treatment. The shots work much better than daily pills that people often forget to take.
Doctors give patients two shots four weeks apart at the start. After that, people only need one injection every eight weeks to stay protected from HIV infection. Scientists discovered these shots cut HIV risk by 79 percent compared to taking pills every day. The medicine called cabotegravir works amazingly well for different groups of people at high risk.
Cambodia fights HIV better than most countries around the world. The nation has only 0.5 percent of adults living with HIV and keeps cutting new infections each year. Health workers know the status of 92 percent of people with HIV and nearly everyone gets life-saving treatment. Almost all patients on treatment have undetectable virus levels that cannot spread to others.
Each shot costs 36 dollars and international funding helps pay for the program. Cambodia might soon add special rings for women that prevent HIV infection without shots or pills. Health officials want to give people many different ways to protect themselves from getting infected.
Doctors give patients two shots four weeks apart at the start. After that, people only need one injection every eight weeks to stay protected from HIV infection. Scientists discovered these shots cut HIV risk by 79 percent compared to taking pills every day. The medicine called cabotegravir works amazingly well for different groups of people at high risk.
Cambodia fights HIV better than most countries around the world. The nation has only 0.5 percent of adults living with HIV and keeps cutting new infections each year. Health workers know the status of 92 percent of people with HIV and nearly everyone gets life-saving treatment. Almost all patients on treatment have undetectable virus levels that cannot spread to others.
Each shot costs 36 dollars and international funding helps pay for the program. Cambodia might soon add special rings for women that prevent HIV infection without shots or pills. Health officials want to give people many different ways to protect themselves from getting infected.
