Fiji's Alarming Surge in HIV Cases: A National Crisis

Tue Oct 21 2025 00:47:46 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

HIV cases in Fiji have skyrocketed, with a staggering increase attributed to rising drug use, needle sharing, and unsafe sexual practices. Experts warn of an impending public health avalanche.

Fiji has witnessed an astonishing elevenfold rise in HIV cases over the past decade, influenced primarily by drug use and dangerous sharing practices like 'bluetoothing'. With a reported 5,900 people living with HIV by 2024, the situation is deemed a national crisis, prompting government intervention. Experts emphasize the urgent need for improved healthcare infrastructure to combat this escalating epidemic.

Fiji's Alarming Surge in HIV Cases: A National Crisis

Ten: that's the age of the youngest person with HIV that Sesenieli Naitala has ever met. When she first started Fiji's Survivor Advocacy Network in 2013, that young boy was yet to be born. Now he is one of thousands of Fijians who have contracted the bloodborne virus in recent years – many of them aged 19 or younger, and many of them through intravenous drug use.

Over the last five years, Fiji has emerged as a focal point for one of the fastest-growing HIV epidemics globally. In 2014, there were fewer than 500 people living with HIV. This number astonishingly increased to approximately 5,900 by 2024, marking an elevenfold jump.

In 2024 alone, Fiji recorded 1,583 new cases – a thirteenfold increase from the five-year average. Alarmingly, 41 of these individuals were aged 15 or younger. This distressing trend prompted Fiji's health minister to declare an HIV outbreak in January, with projections indicating over 3,000 new cases could arise by the end of 2025.

Experts reveal that the surge in HIV infections is fueled by an increase in drug use, unsafe sexual practices, and the dangerous trend of 'bluetoothing', where blood is shared between intravenous drug users. Kalesi Volatabu, director of Drug Free Fiji, highlighted incidents she's witnessed where groups of users circulate blood to get high, underscoring the dire situation’s complexity.

The state's response has been inadequately lagging behind the outbreak, with significant resource shortages and a lack of implementation for needle-syringe programs, which are critical for reducing the spread of HIV. The Ministry of Health acknowledged 'bluetoothing' as a significant driver behind the rising case numbers, alongside chemsex trends during drug use.

As Fiji's situation continues to worsen, José Sousa-Santos, an expert on Pacific health, warns of an impending avalanche of HIV cases, stressing the critical need for immediate and coordinated action to reverse the epidemic's trajectory.