There has been a disturbing rise in HIV-related deaths, with 115 fatalities recorded between January and September last year prompting the Ministry of Health to declare a national HIV outbreak.

Minister Doctor Atonio Lalabalavu says of the 115 deaths, 34 were diagnosed last year. These 34 cases have been linked to late diagnosis.
He highlighted this while launching two critical plans to address the urgent challenge.

This includes the HIV Outbreak Response Plan, a focused 90-day effort to fast-track immediate, high-impact interventions to contain the outbreak, and second, the HIV Surge Strategy 2024-2027, which was approved by Cabinet in September.

Dr Lalabalavu says the increase in cases, which includes 1,093 new HIV diagnoses, is particularly concerning for the Ministry.
In 2023, Fiji recorded 258 new HIV cases and 29 deaths between January and September.

“From a surge at the end of 2023, we are now experiencing an outbreak. The 90-Day Plan, which we have begun to execute, is designed to fast-track immediate, high-impact interventions as we battle with significant rise in HIV, which we believe is spurred by the current illicit drug epidemic in the country.”

Doctor Atonio Lalabalavu

Dr Lalabalavu says the plan is designed to fast-track immediate, high-impact interventions.

The Ministry believes the significant rise in HIV is spurred by the current illicit drug epidemic in the country.

“A person who injects drugs and shares used needles is 29 times more likely to contract HIV, and our data today is a clear reflection of this.”

To address this, targeted interventions will be introduced to reduce new cases among injecting drug users, including harm reduction programs and greater accessibility to prevention services.

Dr Lalabalavu says this is not only a health issue, but can potentially become an economic and developmental issue if no action is taken now.