Briefing the media in Lilongwe on Monday, Mabulekisi said the injectable Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PREP) will be given to people who are at risk of contracting HIV.

"As you are aware our goal is to end HIV as a public health threat by 2030. For us to achieve that goal, we must ensure that we do have as many HIV prevention methods as we can. We have a combination of HIV prevention methods and through this, we are continuously introducing new products, and injectable PREP is one of them. This will be given to people who are at substantial risk of contracting HIV," she said.

Mabulekisi further urged the public to utilise the combination prevention methods to avoid contracting the virus, saying those on injectable prep are still at risk of getting HIV.

"I would also like to emphasise that injectable PREP is not a vaccine but a prevention method. It is just like any other method that people use to prevent HIV. A vaccine for HIV has not yet been found and studies are still on-going," she explained.

In her remarks, Director of HIV and Aids and Viral Hepatitis in the Ministry of Health Rose Nyirenda said currently injectable PREP is being administered in Lilongwe and Blantyre, saying these districts have higher prevalence rates of HIV infections at the moment.

"We have indeed started implementing long injectable PREP to people who are at risk of contracting the virus. We have started with Lilongwe and Blantyre because for the past two years, these districts have registered high numbers of HIV infections," she said.

(By Patience Longwe, Malawi News Agency)