New project launched to tackle maternal health, HIV, and gender-based violence in Fiji

Fiji has a Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) of 48.1 deaths per 100, 000 live births, a clear sign that critical gaps in sexual and reproductive health care still exist.

This was highlighted by the United Nations Population Fund Pacific Director and representative Bidisha Pillai during the launch of the Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Adolescent Health for Women, Adolescents and Youth Project in Suva.

The project is a three-year initiative (2025–2027) designed to strengthen health systems and expand access to life-saving services in Fiji, Tonga, and Vanuatu.

Pillai says the project comes at a critical moment, as Fiji continues to face a growing HIV outbreak, with new infections rising rapidly due to injecting drug use and sexual transmission.

She says the outbreak is disproportionately affecting younger people and has placed Fiji among 38 countries globally with the fastest-growing HIV infection rates.

Pillai adds the country’s rates of gender-based violence are also equally alarming, with national data showing that more than two in three women, over 60 to 70 percent, have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by a male intimate partner in their lifetime.

Assistant Minister for Health and Medical Services, Penioni Ravunawa says the project aligns with the commitment to improving maternal, newborn and adolescent health outcomes and to coordinate a national led response to some of the regions most urgent public health and social challenges.