The huge number of HIV positive Fijians recorded by the Ministry of Health may only be a fraction of the real number of cases in the community.
According to the ministry, 415 cases were reported in 2023.
This was the stark reminder of the HIV surge byRin Parliament yesterday as he outlined some of the work that Government planned to do to stop the further spread of the disease.
“Addressing the sharp rise in HIV cases in Fiji in recent years is indeed an uphill battle that will require our collective effort,” said Dr Lalabalavu.
“Our latest ministry statistics on HIV positives cases show a near doubling of new cases diagnosed each year from 2021, 2022, and 2023.
“And we anticipate that this trend will continue in 2024.
“This is, however, the numbers recorded at the ministry, and it may only be a fraction of the real number of HIV positive cases in the community.”
He said the new form of injecting drugs called bluetoothing has further exacerbated Fiji’s HIV problem.
“Bluetoothing involves an injecting drug user (IDU) plunging a syringe of diluted methamphetamine into a bloodstream, drawing first blood and sharing the syringe with a second person, who can then pass it on to a third.
“This is a very high-risk activity that poses a number of serious health issues for those involved such as serious adverse effects from sharing of unmatched blood that include severe anaphylactic reactions and death, transmission of serious infections such as HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis and bacterial infections at the injection site as well as passing bacteria into the blood stream that can cause severe infections, from unhygienic injecting practices.”
Dr Lalabalavu called on IV (injecting vein) drug users to refrain from this activity as it could lead to some serious health outcomes immediately and in the long term, for users.
