Popular honeymoon destination declares national emergency over massive HIV surge

Fiji has officially declared a national HIV emergency on its shores after alarming data revealed that one in 60 adults in the South Pacific island nation is currently living with the virus.

The Fijian government is urgently expanding testing and treatment to combat a massive surge in new infections, which the United Nations program UNAIDS notes has increased 12-fold over the past 15 years, according to The Associated Press (AP).

Highlighting the rapid acceleration of the crisis, Fiji recorded more than 2,000 new cases in 2025 alone, representing a staggering 16-fold increase compared to 2019, The New York Times reported.

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The scope of the epidemic is vast for a nation of fewer than one million people.

UNAIDS estimates that some 9,000 people were living with HIV in Fiji as of 2025. Just five years ago, the infection rate was one in 167 adults, but it has since climbed to one in 60, with one in 50 pregnant women now infected, the AP said.

The human toll is already mounting. Fifty-nine infants were born in 2025 with the virus, as the AP and Reuters reported — and 18 died before their first birthday.

Health officials have pointed to a growing epidemic of injected drug use as the primary catalyst.

As island nations increasingly serve as transit hubs for illicit drugs moving toward Australia and New Zealand, local markets for substances like methamphetamine have flourished.

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The emergency stems from a sharp rise in high-risk methamphetamine use, with widespread needle sharing among drug users acting as a primary driver for the surging infection rates, the AP reported.

Antonio Lalabalavu, Fiji's health minister, announced that the situation, previously labeled an outbreak in January 2025, now requires a comprehensive, whole-of-government response.

Lalabalavu emphasized that the approach is focused on protecting people rather than judging, watching or shaming them.

The government is expanding free testing, providing clean needles for drug users, and offering free antiretroviral treatments, addressing a critical gap given that currently only 39% of patients know their status and a mere 22% are receiving care.

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The international community is raising alarms over the speed of the transmission.

Winnie Byanyima, UNAIDS executive director, said the situation in Fiji is one of the sharpest increases in new HIV infections globally — serving as a stark reminder that the AIDS epidemic is not over, AP and Reuters reported.

Regional health directors also warned that because Fiji operates as a major transport and tourism hub, the crisis could easily spread to other South Pacific nations if swift, stigma-reducing action is not taken by government, community and religious leaders.

In December, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a rapid assessment detecting unsafe injecting practices.

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These practices can put people who inject drugs in Fiji at an increased risk of HIV transmission.

The "Bluetooth trend" has impacted the spread — with individuals injecting the blood of an already intoxicated person to achieve a high when they cannot afford their own drugs.

There were 1,583 new HIV cases reported in 2024, while 1,226 cases were indicated in the first six months of 2025, according to the assessment.

The most popular drug was crystal methamphetamine, with the assessment finding that 50% of interview participants injected themselves with a potentially contaminated syringe.

At the time, Munkhtuya Altangerel, U.N. Development Program representative, said the findings of the assessments were a wake-up call.

"Fiji’s HIV epidemic is not just a health issue — it is a development and human rights challenge that threatens lives, communities and progress," said Altangerel in a release.

"We must act decisively and urgently to scale up harm reduction, expand access to HIV testing and treatment, and ensure that no one is left behind."

Ashley J. DiMella of Fox News Digital, as well as The Associated Press and Reuters, contributed reporting.