Health Minister Dr Atonio Lalabalavu has declared an outbreak of HIV cases in the country.

He says between January and September 2024 Fiji recorded 1093 cases.

He revealed the figures during the launch of Fiji National HIV Surge Strategy 2024-2027.

Dr Lalabalavu says the Central Division recorded 766 cases, 292 cases were from the Western Division, 33 cases in the Northern Division, and the Eastern Division recorded two cases.

Health Minister Dr Atonio Lalabalavu

The age group most affected is 20 to 29-year-olds, with 553 cases accounting for 51% of cases.

Among the reported cases, 784 are males, and 990 or 90.6% are of iTaukei descent, followed by Fijians of Indian Descent: 8.2% (90 cases) and other ethnicities 1.2% (13 cases)

Out of the new cases, only 52% (572 cases) have successfully received treatment.

Among those getting the treatment, 77% or 443 cases have known transmission routes,

Of these, 223 cases, or 50.3% have reported Injecting Drug Use as a primary mode of transmission, while 202 cases, or 45.6% have reported sexual transmission as a primary mode of transmission.

An additional 129 cases or 23% are currently under evaluation to determine their primary transmission routes.

The Ministry conducted 45,677 lab-based HIV screenings and 5,173 point-of-care tests (POCT) during this period, demonstrating its commitment to expanding HIV testing services.

Dr Lalabalavu says there were 115 HIV-related deaths recorded in the same timeframe, with 29.6% (34 deaths) occurring among individuals diagnosed in 2024.

These 34 deaths were unfortunately late diagnoses.

Dr Lalabalavu says this means that Fiji has met the definition for an outbreak of HIV nationally, and this declaration reflects the reality that HIV is evolving at a very fast rate in our communities.

The Minister says that from an increase at the end of 2023, Fiji is now experiencing an outbreak.