Fiji has declared an HIV national emergency after data showed one in 60 people in the South Pacific island nation is now estimated to have the bloodborne virus.
“This means HIV is now a national crisis and the government is treating it like one. “More people in Fiji are living with HIV than ever before. It will provide more free testing, clean needles for drug users and free treatment for people who test positive.
Because its testing efforts are reaching more people, the government said it was finding more cases. The country says it is boosting testing and treatment efforts to fight a surge in new infections, which have increased 12-fold over the last 15 years, according to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV and Aids (UNAIDS). Latest figures showed there was about 9,000 people living with HIV in 2025 in a country which has less than a million people, according to the UN agency. It said only 39 per cent of patients knew their HIV status and just 22 per cent were receiving antiretroviral treatment.
No more business as usual,” Fiji’s Health Minister Antonio Lalabalavu said in a video statement on Facebook.
