New cases of HIV are surging at an unprecedented rate in Fiji, and the South Pacific island nation has declared a national emergency as a result. The government is doubling down on preventative measures with the help of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV and Aids (UNAIDS), as drug use and the taboo nature of the disease contribute to the outbreak.
Why is Fiji having an HIV crisis?
Over the last 15 years, new HIV infections have “increased 12-fold” in Fiji, according to recent UNAIDS data, said The Associated Press. As of 2025, there were about 9,000 people living with HIV in a “country which has less than a million people.” This means that about one in every 60 adults there has the virus, “compared with one in 167 five years ago.”
HIV is now a “national crisis,” and the government is “treating it like one,” Fiji’s Health Minister Atonio Lalabalavu said in a video statement on Facebook. “No more business as usual.” More people in Fiji are living with HIV than “ever before.”
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Officials warn that the outbreak is not “limited to particular areas or populations,” The New York Times said. And because Fiji “serves as a regional hub for business, tourism and transport,” the surge could also affect nearby countries in the South Pacific if “left unchecked.”
In fact, that interconnectedness may have contributed to a spike in infections, Eamonn Murphy, the director of regional support teams in the Asia Pacific region, Central Asia and Eastern Europe for UNAIDS, said to the Times. An influx of drugs like methamphetamine and cocaine during the Covid-19 pandemic added “fuel on the flame” of a longstanding HIV presence in Fiji, Murphy said. Fiji is also one of “several global hot spots” in which a dangerous trend called “bluetoothing,” where people “inject themselves with the blood of other drug users to get a cheap high,” is contributing to spikes in disease rates, said the Times.
What is the plan to solve the crisis?
These alarming statistics don’t capture the full scale of the problem, Renata Ram, the Fiji adviser for UNAIDS, said to CNN. Most concerning is the “speed of the epidemic” and the “number of people who may be living with HIV without knowing it,” Ram said. Only around 39% of Fijians living with HIV know their status, and less than a quarter (22%) are on treatment.
HIV is “not only a health issue,” Joeli Colati, the executive director of Fiji Network Plus, an advocacy organization for HIV positive people, said to CNN. It is also connected to “stigma, poverty, confidentiality, fear.” Limited testing, low condom use and shame are often cited as factors contributing to infection. And there are many reasons why people might be hesitant to seek treatment, including a “fear of being recognized at the HIV clinic,” Colati said. Fiji is a “deeply religious society” where “premarital or casual sex is generally considered taboo,” CNN said.
Fiji’s government has “ramped up testing and treatment efforts” since January 2025, when the nation first “declared an HIV outbreak, said the Times. However, an “outbreak-level response is no longer sufficient,” Lalabalavu said in his video statement. Moving forward, Fiji has pledged a “whole-of-government response,” including “expanded access to free testing, prevention services and treatment,” as well as harm-reduction measures such as programs that “allow people who inject drugs to exchange used needles for clean ones,” said the Times.
Fiji has “recognized the urgency of the moment and is stepping up its response,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima in a press release. It is also a “stark reminder to the world that AIDS is not over.” HIV epidemics can “change quickly,” and countries need “health and community systems that are ready to respond urgently.”
