So, now that Government has declared HIV a national emergency, we may finally get to see a change in how we deal with this massive challenge.
We should be able to see changes. In fact, we need changes. Our numbers, we now know, are shocking.
They tell us many stories. And right there at the very top sits neglect and complacency. We may have been far too complacent over the years that we actually encouraged this growth in our numbers.
Now we have a warning that the epidemic has reached a critical level, with estimates showing one in every 60 adults is living with HIV.
That’s a terrible and worrying indication of what we have dragged ourselves into.
Health and Medical Services Minister Dr Ratu Atonio Lalabalavu made the declaration yesterday after Cabinet approved the move on September 9.
He said the previous outbreak-level response, introduced in January 2025, was no longer enough to contain the growing crisis.
Now, again, that is quite serious. An outbreak-level response, he now suggests, is no longer sufficient.
The warning is bad among pregnant women, with HIV prevalence among those attending antenatal care reaching about two per cent, or one in every 50 women. Imagine that!
While increased testing has identified more people living with HIV, Government says the figures also expose major gaps in prevention, treatment and continued care. And this is where we should be telling ourselves to be vigilant.
Dr Lalabalavu said the Health Ministry could not tackle the crisis alone and announced a Cabinet subcommittee involving five key ministers.
Government will also work with the vanua, faith-based organisations and affected communities, while plans are underway for a parliamentary standing committee on HIV.
In the face of that, HIV taskforce chair Dr Jason Mitchell said a shortage of health workers was hampering efforts to expand treatment and care.
Dr Lalabalavu said the priority now was clear: to turn the commitment into results.
That’s what we need. We have been talking about this for some time now.
We have been harping on about the need for vigilance. We have been talking about awareness at every level of society. We have been talking about campaigns to get people engaged. And we have been talking about the base, where parents and guardians are involved.
We know what needs to be done. We know about the connections. We know about drug addiction and how that is connected to the sharing of needles, for instance, and how that subsequently has assisted in the surge in our HIV numbers.
The key now is to try and address the complexities, do away with that, and get the basic message out there about prevention.
That will entail a whole-of-community and society effort. And we cannot afford to pussyfoot around this issue any more.
We should be encouraged by this declaration, and we should be engaged!
This is a national challenge that demands honesty, urgency and sustained action. A declaration is only the beginning. What matters now is what we do with it. The numbers are telling us something. We must listen. We must act. Now!
