South Africa recently received its first shipment of Lenacapavir, a long-acting injectable that can prevent HIV with just two shots per year, showing nearly 100% effectiveness in clinical trials.

The rollout in June 2026 will prioritise adolescent girls and young women, pregnant and breastfeeding women, transgender people, sex workers, men who have sex with men, and people who inject drugs.

While these groups are at high risk, adult men in mobile, male-dominated industries—such as construction, mining, and trucking—remain largely overlooked.These men frequently move between work sites, spend long periods away from long-term partners, and often engage in casual or paid sexual encounters.

Research shows that male clients of sex workers are more likely to use condoms with casual partners but not with steady partners, creating a high transmission risk.Age-disparate relationships further increase vulnerability for young women, who often lack the power to negotiate condom use.

Estimates suggest that encounters between clients of sex workers and their long-term partners contributed to 42% of new HIV infections in South Africa from 2010 to 2019.

Experts argue that prevention efforts, including PrEP, testing, and Lenacapavir, must reach men at workplaces and transport hubs, and that men in these bridging roles should be explicitly included in national prevention strategies to close the current gap in HIV prevention.