The revelation that we are experiencing a dramatic and unprecedented surge in HIV cases, is cause for concern. It is alarming!
However, we should be aware of this anyway. It’s not as if this just popped out of the woodworks.
For some time now we have known that HIV infections are pretty bad.
But now the figures are prompting local and international health authorities to warn that we are on the brink of a full-blown HIV epidemic.
In January 2025, we officially declared an HIV outbreak after reporting 1093 new cases from January to September 2024. That was three times the number recorded in the same period of 2023, and a nine-fold increase over five years.
National HIV Outbreak and Cluster Response Chair Dr Jason Mitchell said there was a need for an urgent response to address the epidemic.
We have quickly progressed from a very low prevalence epidemic, he noted, to one that is concentrated, and now it is heading towards a generalized epidemic.
That’s pretty serious.
It’s big news and must inch out concern among every right-thinking Fijian.
One would probably wonder how many there are anyway, the right thinking people that is. It’s because the numbers are rising. It does raise the issue of how much we even think about HIV and our roles in the mechanics of getting our numbers down.
Because the way this is going, it appears we certainly don’t have a lot of right-thinking people. Or is it that they know the challenges, and the danger and still prefer to bury their heads in the sand, hoping things will just go away, and that life will be back to normal. Or perhaps, there is some thought somewhere there in the deepest recesses of their mind, that this is just a bad dream! And all they have to do is wish it away!
“We haven’t reached there yet, but we are at the door of the generalized epidemic, which means that our response through the Ministry needs to be stepped up,” said Dr Mitchell.
“It needs to be an urgent response. We are grateful for the whole of government support, which is what is required in order for us to have an effective HIV response.”
In the face of these worrying stats, we learn that the high rates of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) prevalent in our population are driving the surge in new HIV infections.
“STI rates that are untreated means that it’s easy for people to become infected with HIV. And as a result of HIV, TB numbers are increasing. This means that everyone in the country has a responsibility to be concerned about HIV, TB, and also STIs.”
Now according to the Health Minister Dr Atonio Lalabalavu, a HIV/SRH (sexual and reproductive health) Unit will be established in the Health Ministry’s Family Health Division to fight this HIV battle.
The Unit, he said, would drive a coordinated, whole-of-government response to this public health emergency.
For whatever it is worth, we have a battle on our hands.
The key here is engagement. We must be engaged. And that means screaming this out from the rooftops so to speak. It means getting stakeholders embracing this war, and the reasons we must do what we must to fight the rising numbers. This isn’t someone else’s problem!
The big question is, are we ready to engage, and fight?
