Latin America’s PAHO-Gilead HIV Prevention Deal Is a Victory for Civil Society, says AHF

MEXICO CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the world’s largest HIV care provider, welcomes a new agreement between Gilead Sciences and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) that could expand access to lenacapavir for HIV prevention in 14 countries across Latin America. The agreement represents a positive step toward expanding access in the region and a victory for civil society.

AHF was among the first organizations to mobilize around concerns that the initial Gilead-WHO agreement excluded Latin American countries and joined other civil society organizations in calling for the agreement to be expanded. The AHF Global Public Health Institute, in partnership with the National Institute of Public Health of Mexico, also conducted a study examining the potential impact of lenacapavir in Latin American countries. The study highlighted that achieving greater public health impact will depend on both a significantly reduced price and acceptability among potential users.

Whether PAHO or Gilead acknowledge the role played by civil society, other non-state actors and communities in getting this deal done might sound irrelevant to many, but it’s a fact that since the beginning of the epidemic in the 1980s, these actors have played a key role in making HIV treatment and prevention deals happen.

“It is encouraging to see PAHO and Gilead creating a pathway for access in countries that were excluded from the previous Gilead-WHO agreement. However, because this is a separate arrangement from the initial agreement, it must aim not simply for a fair price, but for a genuinely affordable one,” said Dr. Jorge Saavedra, Executive Director of the AHF Global Public Health Institute and former Director General of Mexico’s National AIDS Program. “In public health, we often say that it is better to prevent than to cure. For us, that also means prevention should be less expensive than treatment.”

Dr. Saavedra added, “How can a Latin American government be convinced to pay more for lenacapavir for prevention if antiretroviral treatment is less expensive and also serves as secondary prevention? That would create a major public health and economic contradiction.”

“Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Peru helped generate the clinical evidence for lenacapavir through Gilead’s pivotal PURPOSE 2 trial, yet they were excluded from the company’s original voluntary licensing arrangement,” said Dr. Patricia Campos, AHF Bureau Chief for Latin America and the Caribbean. “People who help make medical innovation possible should not then find themselves on the wrong side of an access barrier.”

Important questions also remain about what the new arrangement will mean in practice. AHF urges Gilead and PAHO to make pricing, timelines, regulatory requirements, and other key terms transparent and to ensure the agreement results in genuinely affordable and timely access. A new procurement mechanism is welcome, but access cannot exist only on paper.

AHF recognizes that lenacapavir is highly effective, but it remains far from being a silver bullet for controlling the HIV epidemic. Acceptability among populations at greatest risk will also be a key part of the equation. AHF will continue working with governments, civil society, and partners throughout the region to advocate for equitable and sustainable access to lenacapavir alongside the full range of proven HIV prevention tools, including condoms.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the world’s largest HIV/AIDS healthcare organization, provides cutting-edge medicine and advocacy to more than 3 million people across 50 countries, including the U.S. and in Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region, and Eastern Europe. In January 2025, AHF received the MLK, Jr. Social Justice Award, The King Center’s highest recognition for an organization leading work in the social justice arena. To learn more about AHF, visit us online at AIDShealth.org, find us on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.