7.7 million South Africans live with HIV, accounting for 20% of the global prevalence of the disease, but a new cutting edge antiretroviral drug could significantly combat this statistic. The new antiviral medication, known as the TLD method, contains the critical ingredient dolutegravir and reduces HIV symptoms with minimal side effects.

The South African government aims to switch the 4.8 million citizens living with HIV from older treatment regimens to this new method by 2021 and also hopes to achieve treatment access for the 3 million South Africans living with HIV untreated.

Global HIV infections have dropped 17% since 2010 and South Africa hopes this new drug will have a significant impact in furthering its own 26% drop in HIV infections. While global HIV rates are dropping, 75% of new cases arise from only 28 key countries. Getting new technology and treatment options to these key countries is critical for reducing the 37.9 million worldwide cases of HIV.