HIV jab shortage: Nigerian sex workers race to secure supplies

Sex workers and high-risk Nigerians are scrambling for doses of lenacapavir—the twice-yearly injectable HIV-prevention drug—as surging demand has triggered stock-outs across multiple states in the Federal Government’s pilot programme, Saturday PUNCH has reported.

Findings show that Benue, Kwara, Gombe and Cross River states have exhausted their initial allocations barely months after the rollout of the long-acting injection, which was endorsed by the World Health Organisation in July 2025 and developed by Gilead Sciences as an alternative to daily oral pre-exposure prophylaxis pills.

In Benue, over 2,000 HIV-negative people have received the injection since May. Commissioner for Health Dr Paul Ogwuche confirmed supplies are gone but insisted the situation is temporary. “The initial allocation has been exhausted at the participating health facilities, and the commodity is currently out of stock at the service-delivery level,” he said. “However, this is a temporary stock situation, not a discontinuation of the programme.”

In Cross River, health workers say demand has risen sharply among sex workers, who find the injection more discreet than daily pills. “People now come to ask for the injection instead of the daily oral PrEP. It is more discreet and convenient, especially for sex workers,” one official said.

Kwara is awaiting over 1,000 fresh doses after exhausting its initial 800. Meanwhile, Lagos presents a striking contrast — officials say they have surplus doses but too few takers.

The National Agency for the Control of AIDS blamed logistics bottlenecks and Global Fund budget cuts. “There has been a lot of cutting down of programme costs. And that has affected a lot of interventions,” NACA’s North-East Zonal Coordinator Dr John Tobias said.