Govt needs to declare a State of Emergency on Drugs and HIV – Donu

The government needs to declare a State of Emergency in the country given the heinous crimes committed by people abusing drugs and the increase in the spread of HIV cases in the country.

These are the comments of Police Inspector Usaia Donu after speaking at the Youth Talanoa organised by Fiji Red Cross Society.

Donu has highlighted that children as young as 10 years old are living with HIV and a 9-year-old is the youngest drug addict.

He says the dynamics of this ongoing issue needs immediate intervention from citizens, stakeholders, communities, and schools.

According to Police Statistics for the month of April, overall crime recorded an increase of 73 percent, while serious crime increased by 65 percent when compared to the same period in April 2023.

Crimes against women also increased by 15 percent while crimes against children recorded an increase of 5 percent.

The number of illicit drug cases recorded an increase of 32 percent, as arrests for drug related offences continues throughout the five policing divisions.

The Health Ministry is facing a real uphill battle with the increasing number of cases of HIV and AIDS as Fiji recorded an alarming 415 new HIV cases last year compared to 245 cases in 2022.

According to the Global AIDS Monitoring Report, Fiji is now one of the top two countries in the Asia-Pacific region with rapidly rising new HIV infections.

Health Minister, Doctor Atonio Lalabalavu earlier said out of these cases last year, 404 are adults, while 11 cases are children.

Donu says people are now mixing drugs with other substances to lure the younger generation to use and abuse the drugs.

He says more awareness needs to be done across the country to educate people on the effects of hard drugs.

Donu stresses that people in most areas are very vulnerable to these changes and he is calling on all village elders and communities to help curb the distribution of these drugs and the spread of HIV.