Serious concerns continue to grow about the use of needles for drugs since 55 percent of the 1,093 new HIV cases recorded by the Ministry for Health from January to September 2024 were caused by injecting drug use.
This was revealed by the Permanent Secretary for Health, Dr Jemesa Tudravu, during the launch of the Fiji National HIV Surge Strategy 2024-2027.
He says over the last five years, Fiji has reported an average of 215 HIV cases a year.
Dr Tudravu says by September last year, Fiji had recorded 1,093 new HIV cases, which has tripled the total number of new HIV cases reported in 2023.
He says over the last five years, the rate of reported HIV cases has increased nine-fold, from 13.56 per 100,000 population in 2019 to 123.52 per 100,000 population in 2024.
The Permanent Secretary says they also noted that 72 percent of all their diagnosed cases in 2024 were in men.
He adds that there was a dramatic increase in HIV transmission in injecting drug users in the central, eastern and western divisions last year.
Dr Tudravu says UNAIDS made projections and estimated that in 2024, Fiji will have 1,600 new cases.
He says with the support of the UNAIDS, the Ministry engaged international expertise earlier this year to make projections and provide estimates of the HIV burden in Fiji, given the increasing trend they have witnessed.
Dr Tudravu says through these projections, it is estimated that we currently have 2,600 people living with HIV.
He says when this number is added to the incidence of intravenous drug use, the estimate shoots up to 6,100 cases of HIV in the country.
