[Source: GUK]

The Health Ministry has noted certain disparities in Human Immunodeficiency Virus testing rates across different demographics, with a particular increase among the iTaukei population.

Head of Family Health at the Ministry, Dr. Rachel Devi, says this can be attributed to a variety of factors, as more people are coming forward to find out their HIV status.

Therefore, Dr. Devi is calling on people of all ethnic backgrounds to get tested, as HIV is not confined to any specific race or religion; it can affect anyone.

She adds that they have noted the behaviour leading to HIV transmission being consistent across different groups, but the testing rates vary, which may influence the statistics.

“We need to look at our numbers, who is testing more and are we all testing more? The behaviour is honestly the same right across. We’re seeing it from our clinicians that the behaviour is same right across. But can we encourage the others, the Fijians of Indian descent to come forward and get more testing done? So we really encourage everyone to know their status.”

Dr Devi says they continue to monitor the trends closely, highlighting the importance of ongoing education and prevention efforts.

According to the Ministry, the HIV Surge Strategy is expected to facilitate the Ministry’s collaboration with health partners to strengthen prevention and increase national HIV testing by three percent.

Fiji has recorded 552 new HIV cases in the first six months of this year.