Fiji has declared a national HIV emergency following a sharp increase in infections, with health authorities attributing the rise largely to sexual transmission and injecting drug use.
The country recorded 2,016 new HIV diagnoses in 2025, representing a 16-fold increase from the number recorded in 2019, according to government data.
Health Minister Atonio Lalabalavu announced the emergency declaration on Wednesday, saying the decision reflected the severity of the epidemic and the need for an urgent, coordinated response across government.
Government estimates indicate that about one in every 60 adults in Fiji is now living with HIV, compared with one in 167 five years ago. The authorities also reported that approximately two per cent of pregnant women are living with the virus.
The impact has also been recorded among newborns, with 59 babies born with HIV in 2025, of whom 18 died before reaching their first birthday.
The government said it would expand access to free HIV testing, prevention services and treatment as part of measures to contain the spread. The initiatives will include rapid testing, preventive medication for people at higher risk, harm-reduction programmes for people who inject drugs and free treatment for people diagnosed with HIV.
The development was disclosed in a statement by the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), which said more than half of HIV cases with a known mode of transmission were linked to sexual activity, while more than 42 per cent were associated with injecting drug use.
Fiji is also receiving support from Australia, New Zealand, India, the Global Fund and the United Nations to strengthen its response to the outbreak.
UNAIDS welcomed Fiji’s plan to introduce legislation supporting needle and syringe programmes, saying the country still had an opportunity to reverse the trajectory of the epidemic.
UNAIDS regional director Eamonn Murphy called for stronger cooperation across the Pacific and sustained international support to accelerate efforts against the spread of HIV.
According to UNAIDS country director Renata Ram, HIV transmission in Fiji began rising significantly around 2019, following the emergence of a group of highly vulnerable people who inject drugs, particularly within the sex-worker community.
Fiji and other Pacific island nations have also been identified as transit points for illicit drugs originating from Latin America and Asia and destined for markets in Australia and New Zealand.
The Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime has reported that the flow of drugs, including methamphetamine and cocaine, increased significantly following the COVID-19 pandemic, with some of the substances increasingly entering local markets.
