WHO endorses twice yearly HIV prevention shot

By Sola Charles 

In a major advancement for global HIV prevention, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has officially recommended injectable lenacapavir (LEN) as a new pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) option. Announced at the 13th International AIDS Society Conference (IAS 2025) in Kigali, Rwanda, the new guidelines mark a transformative moment in the fight against HIV.

Lenacapavir, the first PrEP product requiring only two injections per year, offers a long-acting, highly effective alternative to daily oral pills. This innovation is especially promising for individuals who face challenges with daily adherence, stigma, or limited access to healthcare. With its extended protection and simplified dosing, LEN could dramatically improve prevention outcomes for people at high risk of HIV.

The recommendation comes amid troubling statistics showing 1.3 million new HIV infections globally in 2024, with disproportionate impact on key populations such as sex workers, men who have sex with men, transgender individuals, people who inject drugs, and adolescents. WHO’s endorsement of LEN signals a bold move to diversify prevention strategies and empower individuals with more flexible, accessible options.

To support rollout, WHO has also recommended a simplified HIV testing approach using rapid tests. This removes a major barrier to access by eliminating complex procedures and enabling community-based delivery of long-acting PrEP through pharmacies, clinics, and telehealth platforms.

Lenacapavir now joins a growing arsenal of WHO-recommended PrEP tools, including daily oral PrEP, injectable cabotegravir, and the dapivirine vaginal ring. While access to LEN outside clinical trials remains limited, WHO is urging governments, donors, and global health partners to begin integrating it into national HIV prevention programmes immediately, while collecting data on uptake and impact.

Additional updates include new treatment guidelines recommending long-acting injectable cabotegravir and rilpivirine (CAB/RPV) as an alternative for people living with HIV who have achieved viral suppression on oral therapy. These options aim to support individuals facing adherence challenges and offer greater flexibility in treatment.

WHO also introduced new service delivery recommendations to integrate HIV care with noncommunicable diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and mental health conditions. Updated STI management guidelines now recommend routine screening for gonorrhoea and chlamydia in key populations. For individuals with mpox and HIV, WHO strongly advises rapid initiation of antiretroviral therapy and early HIV testing.

To address the broader challenges of sustaining HIV programmes amid declining funding, WHO has released operational guidance to help countries prioritise services, assess risks, and adapt systems to protect health outcomes.

With 40.8 million people living with HIV globally and 630,000 deaths in 2024, the urgency remains high. WHO’s new guidelines offer a practical, evidence-based roadmap to strengthen prevention, treatment, and service delivery. The call to action is clear: bold implementation is needed now to turn these policy advances into lasting public health impact.

WHO endorses game-changing mosquito repellent tech to combat malaria

By David Essex

The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially recommended the use of spatial emanators—a revolutionary new class of mosquito control tools—to fight malaria, marking the first major vector control innovation in decades.

Also known as spatial repellents, these devices release active ingredients into the air to repel, disorient, and kill malaria-transmitting mosquitoes, offering protection even during daytime hours when traditional bed nets fall short.

“This recommendation opens the door to a new intervention for national malaria control programmes at a time when innovation is urgently needed,” said Dr Daniel Ngamije, Acting Director for Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases at WHO.

WHO has prequalified two spatial emanator products—Mosquito Shield and Guardian, both developed by SC Johnson & Son, Inc. These devices use transfluthrin, a powerful mosquito-repelling compound, and offer protection lasting from one month to twelve months, depending on the product.

 “Spatial repellents are the first new class of vector control intervention in decades… At a time when progress against malaria has stalled, this is a significant step forward,” said Dr Philippe Duneton, Executive Director of Unitaid.

The prequalification status means these products are now eligible for procurement by UN agencies and national health programmes, potentially accelerating access in malaria-endemic regions.

WHO’s conditional recommendation is based on five independent studies showing that spatial emanators, when used alongside insecticide-treated nets (ITNs), significantly reduce malaria transmission. However, further research is underway to evaluate their standalone effectiveness and outdoor use.

Early trials in Peru and Southeast Asia suggest spatial emanators may also reduce transmission of dengue and other arboviruses, opening the door to broader public health applications.

Global health partners are now racing to fill evidence gaps and expand the use cases for spatial emanators, with WHO guideline groups poised to update recommendations as new data emerges.

The breakthrough could reshape the global fight against mosquito-borne diseases—bringing hope to millions at risk.

Smart sanitary pad diagnoses diseases

By Precious Dipe

Scientists have turned what is generally regarded as a monthly inconvenience into a medical marvel and unlocked a new frontier in disease detection—one that’s discreet, fast, and astonishingly powerful.

In a quiet lab nestled within ETH Zurich, Switzerland’s premier science and technology university, researchers have transformed the humble sanitary pad into a potential lifesaver. Their innovation is a paper-thin sensor embedded in the pad that can detect early signs of serious diseases long before a single symptom appears.

For centuries, menstrual blood has been dismissed as waste; however, this new technology is changing that narrative, using it as a rich source of biological data. The sanitary pad, indistinguishable from any off-the-shelf product, hides a diagnostic strip just beneath its surface. It is incredibly easy to use; the wearer simply snaps a photo of the strip and uploads it to a smartphone app. Within minutes, artificial intelligence analyses the image, comparing it against a vast database to flag potential health concerns.

The sensor, called MenstruAI, costs around £1 (N2,000) to manufacture and contains gold nanoparticles which react when a protein is detected.

The test easily detects C-reactive protein (CRP) – a marker for inflammation and infections like colds and flu. It also detected carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), often elevated in the presence of tumours, and also CA125 – a protein linked to ovarian cancer and notoriously difficult to detect early.

The sensor works much like a COVID-19 test strip, with lines or dots appearing depending on the biomarkers present, with darker colours indicating higher concentrations. The entire process—from pad to prognosis—takes less than 10 minutes.

This breakthrough could revolutionise the monitoring of health conditions, especially those that often go undetected until they become serious. Among these are urinary tract infections (UTIs), type 2 diabetes, and ovarian cancer, which are just the beginning. The implications for global health—especially in regions with limited access to diagnostic labs—are profound.

Dr Ana Ferreira, one of the lead researchers, says the goal is to make health monitoring “as routine and effortless as brushing your teeth.” And with this pad, that future may be closer than we think.

“At the moment, we have a proof-of-concept with three biomarkers relevant for infection, gynaecological disorders and tumour development. The sensor is embedded into a soft silicone casing that protects it. It’s designed so that we can control the volume of blood that comes into contact with the paper strip,” said Lucas Dosnon, a nanotechnology researcher at ETH Zurich and lead author of the study, recently published in Advanced Science News.

The team plans to include many more protein-based markers which will be able to point to a variety of other diseases or give general health insights. Gold nanoparticles are already used in a range of diagnostic applications because of their unique optical properties, including their ability to scatter light – which means they generate visible colour changes that can be seen with the naked eye.

Women lose roughly 30 to 50 ml of blood during their monthly period, and menstrual blood sensors have been in development for the past 10 years at least. The big attraction is that samples don’t need to be collected by needle and are readily available every month.

In 2019, a team at Stanford University in California compared samples of menstrual blood with blood that circulates through the body from 20 women over two months. Results in the journal Clinical and Laboratory Medicine showed menstrual blood could reliably estimate levels of several biomarkers – including for diabetes and inflammation – as well as reproductive hormones, and so could be an alternative source for diagnosis and health monitoring.

In 2022, Paul Blumenthal, a professor emeritus of obstetrics and gynaecology at the Stanford School of Medicine, and Dr Sara Naseri, a former Stanford Medicine visiting scholar, developed a smart menstrual pad that could detect human papillomavirus, or HPV, which is linked to cervical cancer.

Naseri went on to co-found a company called Qvin and develop the first FDA-approved diagnostic menstrual pad, known as the Q-Pad. Women wear the pad as normal, then a blood collection strip is sent to a laboratory to be analysed.

Results are returned within five days and, as well as HPV, can identify biomarkers for pre-diabetes, anaemia, perimenopause, endometriosis and thyroid health.

The latest test is not designed to replace laboratory tests but to give early indications of potential problems that may require more detailed investigations. It could be used for early screening of the general female population who want to have a better overview of their health, or it could help monitor disease progression in people who have already been diagnosed.

One example might be the inflammatory bowel condition Crohn’s disease, where some patients need to do a monthly blood test to monitor their inflammation status. The next step is to test it in a larger group of participants (the field study was a small group of volunteers). Once it has approval, it could be sold over the counter.

Gold is costly, but expenses are reduced when manufacturing is scaled up and very little is needed. Gold nanoparticles are easy to use and very versatile; hopefully this project can help to break counterproductive taboos.

Dr Karen Morton, a consultant gynaecologist based in Guildford, noted, “This technology is interesting, but there is a lot more to understand about how it may be used to really help improve women’s health, if at all. The concern is that this may just encourage the worried well to spend more of their money.”

Lassa fever kills 156 in Nigeria

By Sola Charles 

 The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has raised fresh concerns over an increase in Lassa fever fatalities in the country.    

In its Week 31 Situation Report, of July 28 to August 3, 2025, Nigeria recorded nine new confirmed cases—up from three the previous week—but the cumulative death toll has surged to 156, marking a higher case fatality rate than the same period in 2024.

So far in 2025, Nigeria has reported 836 confirmed cases of Lassa fever across 21 states across 105 local government areas. 

While the number of suspected cases has reached 6,851, the case fatality rate (CFR) now stands at 18.7 percent—an increase from 17.3 percent recorded during the same period in 2024.

“This increase in deaths is a clarion call for urgent and lasting actions,” the agency warned in the report, urging both federal and state governments to intensify efforts in early detection, rapid response, and community engagement.

The latest confirmed cases were reported in Edo, Ondo, and Taraba States, which, along with Bauchi and Ebonyi, account for 90 percent of the national burden. 

Ondo leads with 33 percent of all confirmed cases, followed by Bauchi (23 percent), Edo (17 percent), Taraba (14 percent), and Ebonyi (3 percent).

The most affected demographic remains young adults aged 21 to 30, with a male-to-female ratio of 1 to 0.8. No new healthcare worker infections were reported this week, a slight reprieve amid growing concerns about frontline exposure.

The NCDC identified several factors contributing to the rising death toll, including late presentation at health facilities, poor health-seeking behaviour linked to treatment costs, and inadequate sanitation in high-burden areas. These systemic challenges continue to hinder timely diagnosis and effective case management.

In response, the agency has deployed 10 National Rapid Response Teams to affected states and distributed contact thermometers to aid early detection. It has also launched an Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) e-learning course and conducted targeted training for healthcare workers in Bauchi, Ebonyi, and Benue States.

With public sensitisation efforts are being ramped up in hotspot LGAs, with Lassa fever messaging now integrated into broader infection prevention campaigns. 

The agency is also calling on state governments to sustain community engagement activities year-round and urging healthcare workers to maintain a high index of suspicion for Lassa fever symptoms.

“The rising fatality rate is not just a statistic—it’s a signal. We must act decisively to prevent further loss of life,” the report stated.

As Nigeria continues to battle Lassa fever alongside other infectious diseases, the NCDC’s warning underscores the urgent need for coordinated public health action, improved healthcare access, and sustained awareness to curb the deadly trend.

SMART advocacy: CSOs strategize to build bridges to better health outcomes in Lagos State

By Sola Charles

 

Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) working in Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health and Nutrition (RMNCAH+N) gathered in Lagos for a two-day SMART Advocacy Capacity Building Workshop aimed at improving primary health care delivery and health outcomes across Nigeria.

The event held at the Amber Residence in GRA, Ikeja under the auspices of the Center for Communication and Social Impact (CCSI), in collaboration with EngenderHealth, the Lagos State Ministry of Health, and the Lagos State Primary Health Care Development Agency.

Dr.Kelvin Otumonye who represented the Director of Family Health and Nutrition, on behalf of the State Ministry of Health,  emphasized the importance of unified efforts in addressing reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health (RMNCAH) challenges. 

He called for deeper collaboration between CSOs and government agencies to improve health outcomes across Nigeria.

“We want you to understand our challenges so that you can work in a synergistic way, there should be no parallel programmes. We must build fantastic relationships between CSOs and the government.”

Key stakeholders from across the health sector engaged with strategic advocacy tools to drive policy change and community impact.

Participants were taken through foundational advocacy skills, beginning with an introduction to the SMART Advocacy framework, exploring the current RMNCAH and PHC landscape in Lagos State, identifying critical gaps and opportunities for intervention. 

Through group exercises, they analyzed local health challenges and crafted SMART objectives—specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals—to guide the advocacy efforts.

Stakeholder mapping sessions helped identify key allies and decision-makers essential to their campaigns even as facilitators emphasized the importance of coalition-building and evidence-based messaging to influence policy and resource allocation.

Group work focused on refining advocacy strategies as participants engaged in power mapping to profile decision-makers and understand their motivations. argeted messages were developed with selected messengers appropriately identified to be tasked with delivering the advocacy asks effectively.

Through role-playing exercises, the CSOs  simulated real-world engagements with policymakers, while brainstorming sessions laid the groundwork for detailed advocacy work plans.

The training was a game-changer for grassroots organizations, empowering movement from awareness to action with clear, strategic goals with significant key takeaways on implementation planning and resource mobilization.

 

National Council on AIDS charts new path towards sustainable HIV response

By Sola Charles

Nigeria is charting a new course for its HIV/AIDS response against the backdrop of declining international funding support and emerging global health emergencies, even as the need to embrace home grown solutions takes the centrestage.

The Director General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Dr Temitope Ilori, who disclosed this at the 7th National Council on AIDS (NCA), which opened in Lagos on Wednesday, said Nigeria is recalibrating its HIV response with a renewed focus on sustainability, ownership, and innovation.

Ilori, who described the National Council on AIDS as Nigeria's highest policy-making and coordinating platform for HIV/AIDS, noted that this year’s meeting, themed “Advancing National HIV Sustainability Agenda in the Changing Global Policy on Aid,” reflects the urgency of adapting to shifting donor priorities while safeguarding the health of millions of Nigerians.

“As you are very well aware, there has been some reduction in the international funding of the HIV response, and stakeholders, the patient community, some civil society organisations, implementing partners, and faith-based organisations are here to deliberate on how to ensure that response will continue to take ownership at the federal and at the state levels.

“It is to ensure that no one is left behind, to ensure that we meet all the gaps and treatment is not disturbed and that we ensure that people living with HIV have access to medications and care, avoid stigma and discrimination and continue to sustain the gains that we've had over the years. 

“What we expect from major stakeholders and partners is that we should turn these challenges into opportunities and take charge of our response. We, as Nigerians, the government and every tier should take ownership of the response and reduce our reliance. We should put our money where our mouth is and support the response in terms of ensuring an increase and release in budgetary allocation. 

“We all should take ownership of the response and reduce our reliance on the international bodies and external funders by advocating for increased budgetary education. We are meeting and partnering with the private sector for funding and support; we are also discussing with the National Health Insurance agents to onboard people with HIV on the health insurance case to ensure that their treatment and care is taken on.”

Further, the D-G explained that the NCA’s deliberations are structured around three strategic tracks designed to foster innovation, integration, and resilience across Nigeria’s health systems.

“The tracks include financial and programmatic sustainability in the face of changing global aid; multi-sectoral approaches linking HIV with broader development challenges like tuberculosis and malaria; and strengthening sub-national structures to ensure grassroots-level impact. 

“HIV doesn’t exist in a vacuum; we must engage in health, education, social welfare, and economic sectors. Addressing social determinants and strengthening systems holistically is key to our long-term success.

“Under the SWAP (Sector Wide Approach) initiatives of the Ministry of Health, there is the integration of HIV into the global health system and the constitution of the technical working groups AIDS, TB and Malaria (ATM TWG)."

The Nigerian government has made life-saving commodities a priority under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who approved a 200 million dollar intervention fund to bridge the funding gap, also established the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain (PVAC) to promote domestic production and boost local manufacturing of ARV and diagnostic test kits. 

With the support of UNAIDS and the Global Fund, Nigeria is apiloting the HIV, TB, and Malaria Sustainability Plan in seven states, including Lagos.

Ilori explained that true sustainability must begin at the grassroots by empowering the State Agency for the Control of AIDS (SACAs) and Local Action Committee for the Control of AIDS (LACAs) with the tools, capacity, and autonomy to drive impactful responses within their contexts. We are already making progress in this direction. 

Noting that the Council provides the platform to assess, coordinate, and scale up these efforts, Ilori observed, “The Lagos State First Lady, Dr Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, has launched the Free to Shine Campaign for the triple elimination of HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis B across the six geopolitical zones targeted at adolescents and women of reproductive age.

“Additionally, we will review the progress made on the 12 resolutions from the 6th NCA and examine new memoranda to guide future policy and programming. This process is about accountability, learning, and continual improvement.

“Our ultimate goal remains clear: to address existing gaps in HIV policies and programme implementation, ensuring that no one is left behind in our journey towards an AIDS-free Nigeria driven by ownership and sustainability.

“Now we want HIV integrated into the global health system; we don't want to talk about HIV as a vertical standalone programme; we want to talk about integrated programmes. So when we want to talk about HIV, we're talking about maternal health; we're talking about children's care, care of the pregnant women, antenatal care, tuberculosis, malaria, and all that; we want it to be integrated.”

Stressing that the health sector should be well funded, Ilori argued that with HIV being a vulnerable group given special consideration while ensuring the sustainability of local domestic production of test kits.

“I'm happy to tell you that we already have two plants here in Nigeria that are already packaging HIV test kits domestically, and they are also the WHO beacons. And also we are already having discussions with some other local pharmaceutical companies that are ready to start producing antiretroviral drugs. All this will ensure sustainability and affordability,” she remarked.

Scientists discover breast cancer prevention hack

By Precious Dipe

Scottish scientists have identified a critical mechanism behind how breast cancer spreads—and this  could revolutionise how the disease is treated in its earlier stages. 

Research UK Institute and the University of Glasgow discovered that breast cancer hijacks the body’s immune system by altering the metabolism of specific immune cells. 

These cells then release a protein called uracil, which acts as a biological scaffold that helps cancerous cells latch onto and grow in other organs.

In a stunning twist, scientists successfully blocked the process in mice by targeting an enzyme called uridine phosphorylase-1 (UPP1), the source of uracil, and the immune system regained its ability to destroy secondary cancer cells, effectively halting the spread of the disease.

The discovery opens the door to a revolutionary new approach: detecting uracil in the bloodstream as an early warning sign of metastasis, and using drugs to block UPP1 before cancer cells can spread. Lead researcher Dr. Cassie Clarke hailed the findings as “a major shift in how we think about preventing the spread of cancer.”

Dr. Catherine Elliot of Cancer Research UK said “Metastasis is what makes breast cancer so deadly. This gives us real hope for stopping it early and giving patients more time with their loved ones.”

Breast cancer remains the most common cancer in Nigeria with almost 30,000 cases and over 16,000 deaths annually. In the UK, nearly 56,000 new cases are diagnosed annually and over 11,500 deaths. In the US, there are 266,000 diagnoses and 40,000 deaths each year. Experts predict breast cancer  global cases are expected to hit 3.2 million annually.

Simon Vincent, chief scientific officer at Breast Cancer Now, said : “This could help stop other cancers from spreading too. Now we need to turn this insight into life-saving treatments.”

Early detection remains critical. Warning signs include: lump in the breast or armpit, changes in breast size or shape, and nipple discharge or skin changes (dimpling, redness, crusting). Despite awareness campaigns, many women still don’t regularly check their breasts. 

The breakthrough offers a beacon of hope in the fight against breast cancer. With further research and development, it could mark the beginning of a new era—where stopping cancer before it spreads becomes a reality.