Urgent action needed as hard drug users inject, draw blood and share

Urgent action is needed as we are continuing to receive reports now on the concerning trend of the sharing of needles by hard drug users where people are injecting the drug, and then using the same syringe to draw out the blood of that person, and then putting it into another person’s body.

fijivillage News has been told that people on the streets were earlier given highly addictive drugs like methamphetamine and cocaine for free however they are now addicted and cannot afford the constant supply.

They have then started to draw out blood of those who have just taken the drug.

While speaking on fijivillage Straight Talk with Vijay Narayan, Drug-Free World Fiji Founder Kalesi Volatabu says these things are happening at an elevated level, and it is very concerning as this will further result in the already rapidly rising cases of HIV/AIDS in the country.

Volatabu says children as young as 11 years old are sadly addicted to drugs like methamphetamine.

She says that after conducting a survey, they found an 11-year-old boy who is a needle user and his story is one of many others out there.

Volatabu says after talking to some youths in Nabua, she feels saddened to listen to the stories about the journey of these drug users.

Urgent action needed as hard drug users inject, draw blood and share #fyp #fijivillageStraightTalk🎙️ pic.twitter.com/5KfyEQWCY5

— fijivillage (@fijivillage) March 4, 2024

She adds that without a doubt, there needs to be international responsibility with the diplomatic corp and multi-national agencies that are based in Fiji because they see what's happening in this country and they cannot turn a blind eye on Fiji.

Volatabu is asking what more can these international agencies do in terms of awareness and assistance, as some of these hard drugs were destined for countries like Australia, but unfortunately it has spread to the people here in Fiji.