The number of Fijians who are HIV positive has risen to at least 9000.
Photo: RNZ Pacific
The number of Fijians who are HIV positive has risen to at least 9000 – almost one percent of the population – with infections surging, according to the man who heads the country’s HIV outbreak response.
Fiji has been gripped by an “escalating HIV epidemic” according to the World Health Organisation.
The country declared a HIV outbreak in January last year, with the government calling it “a national crisis”, and regional health experts raising concerns that it could spread across the region.
But while the island nation is “taking decisive steps” to address the situation, more than half of those who are aware of their HIV status are not on treatment, Fiji’s National HIV Outbreak and Cluster Response chair Dr Jason Mitchell said.
In New Zealand, there are around 3500 people estimated to be HIV positive – less than 0.1 percent of the population. With Fiji having around 9000 cases, it suggests the prevalence of people living with HIV is much higher relative to the population.
Dr Mitchell has warned that the cases continue to sharply increase.
“In 2025 alone, we recorded 2016 new cases … a 723 percent increase in three years,” he was quoted as saying by The Fiji Times.
He said more than three percent of women attending antenatal care in Fiji were testing positive for HIV – with the number slightly higher in the capital – and one baby is being diagnosed with HIV every week due to mother-to-child transmission, and one child also dies each month from advanced HIV disease.
He said the virus was present in families, workplaces and communities throughout Fiji, the newspaper reported.
An editorial published by The Fiji Times described the situation as “alarming”.
“What we need right now is awareness. Real, widespread, unfiltered awareness. People must understand the scale of the problem and the consequences of risky behaviours,” the news outlet’s editor-in-chief Fred Wesley said.
“The links to drug use and needle sharing are well known. The prevention methods are well known. What remains uncertain is whether we, as a nation, are prepared to act decisively on that knowledge.
Wesley added “these are troubling times” and “that complacency is not an option”.
Last October, Dr Jalal Mohammed, a senior lecturer at the University of Canterbury and adjunct professor at the University of Fiji, told RNZ Pacific the crisis had reached a “tipping point”, warning that Kiwis “going on holidays could pick up the virus”.
“We could see an increased number of cases in New Zealand as well,” he said.