NINE in 10 pregnant women diagnosed with HIV in Fiji are iTaukei, raising concern over the growing impact of the virus on young women and their families.
Ministry of Health and Medical Services principal medical officer for Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV Unit Harm Reduction lead Dr Sailosi Soqo revealed the figures while speaking at the 43rd Fiji Head Teachers Association annual conference in Nadi.
Dr Soqo said the women were often young mothers whose children were part of the school system.
“These are young women, sisters, mothers of children who are in your classroom,” he said.
He said only 10 per cent of the partners of women diagnosed with HIV came forward for testing, meaning the majority remained untested.
Dr Soqo also raised concern about people seeking treatment at an advanced stage of the disease.
“Almost a third that come to us have advanced HIV.”
He said 90 per cent of people who died from HIV in 2025 had been diagnosed in 2016, adding that some patients died within the same year they presented for treatment.
