Fijian authorities have declared a national health emergency this month to address a surge in HIV cases. New infections rose by 27% in 2025, with 2,016 new cases diagnosed, marking a 12-fold increase since 2010, according to UNAids.
An estimated one in 60 adults in the island nation of about 930,000 people is now living with HIV. The government is mobilising urgent measures to prevent further spread, scaling up an announcement first made in February 2025.
The crisis is closely linked to drug use, with over 42% of new cases in 2025 attributed to sharing contaminated needles or equipment. Dr Jason Mitchell, head of Fiji’s HIV epidemic response, anticipates numbers will continue to rise and estimates it could take five to 10 years to manage the virus.
A medical team recently screened 97 people, mostly teenagers, in downtown Suva, finding that one in six tested positive for HIV. Dr Kesaia Tuidraki, country director of Medical Services Pacific, stated that "children are suffering, children are dying."
Mitchell expects a change to the HIV Act within the next two weeks, which would permit public health workers to distribute needles. This measure is considered critical for stemming the rapid spread of HIV, including to vulnerable populations like mothers and babies, at an estimated additional cost of FJD $23 million (US$10.2 million) annually.