Fiji’s health system is expected to face increasing pressure as HIV and tuberculosis (TB) cases continue to rise, according to health officials.
HIV Vertical Transmission Elimination country lead and member of the National HIV response taskforce Dr Priya Kaur said both diseases required long-term treatment and would involve all levels of the healthcare workforce in the future.
“We will see both disproportionately like we’ve never seen before in the next two to five years,” she said.
“It’s going to be so much that it’s going to be every healthcare worker’s problem.”
Last year, Fiji recorded 640 cases of TB, and 41 per cent of TB-HIV co-infection.
“There’s no extra workforce that we can bring up to do just HIV and TB alone. The existing workforce will have to look after it.”
She said doctors across multiple specialties, including general practitioners, paediatricians and private practitioners, would need to manage HIV and TB cases as demand increases.
Dr Kaur said the Ministry of Health was working to strengthen integrated health systems, including improved referral pathways and the use of digital tools such as QR-based systems to support healthcare workers.
She stated that the goal was to improve coordination between public and private health services and ensure patients received timely and continuous care.
She said a coordinated national response was needed as the number of infections increased and the health system adapted to long-term management of both diseases.
Dr Kaur said the existing workforce would need to manage the growing burden, as there was limited capacity to create separate specialised teams.
