MEN aged 18 to 69 in Fiji who participated in a national health survey reported currently smoking tobacco, highlighting a major health risk during Movember.
The Ministry of Health and Medical Services’ Fiji 2025 STEPS Survey found that 50.8 per cent of men in the surveyed age group were current smokers, compared with 20.6 per cent of women.
The survey was conducted between April 2024 and June 2025, and provides updated information on non-communicable disease risk factors among adults in Fiji.
The findings bring attention to tobacco use as a preventable risk factor for cancers, including lung cancer, which is among the health concerns affecting men.
According to the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer GLOBOCAN 2022 estimates, Fiji recorded 37 new cases of lung cancer among men in 2022. This accounted for 5.7 per cent of all new male cancer cases, placing lung cancer fourth among the most diagnosed cancers in men that year.
The Ministry of Health identifies tobacco use as a major risk factor for cancer, while the World Health Organization says tobacco smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer worldwide.
Symptoms of lung cancer can include a persistent cough, wheezing, shortness of breath, and coughing up blood or bloody mucus.
Movember, which raises awareness of men’s health issues during November, provides an opportunity to broaden conversations beyond prostate cancer and highlight the importance of preventing other serious illnesses.
The figures underline the importance of reducing tobacco use and encouraging men who smoke to seek support to quit.
