Fiji declares HIV national emergency as one in 60 adults infected

Fiji has declared an HIV national emergency after data showed one in 60 adults in the South Pacific island nation was estimated to be infected. The government said it was expanding testing and treatment to address a surge in new infections, which have risen sharply over more than a decade.

New infections have increased 12-fold over the last 15 years, according to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS). About 9,000 people were living with HIV in 2025 in a country of fewer than a million people, the agency said. Only 39% of patients knew their HIV status, and 22% were receiving antiretroviral treatment.

One in every 167 adults had HIV five years ago, officials said. Among pregnant women, one in every 50 has HIV.

“This means HIV is now a national crisis and the government is treating it like one. No more business as usual,” Health Minister Antonio Lalabalavu said in a video statement on Facebook. “More people in Fiji are living with HIV than ever before.”

Lalabalavu said the illness had been given “outbreak” status in January 2025, but the Cabinet decided this month that response was no longer sufficient. The new designation of national emergency required government agencies to work with the health ministry on the problem, he said.

He added that more cases were being uncovered because testing efforts were reaching more people. The government said it was expanding free testing and free treatment for people who tested positive and would provide clean needles for drug users.

“This is about protecting people , not judging them, not watching them, not shaming them,” Lalabalavu said.

Analysts say the crisis was driven in part by the growing use of injected methamphetamine, which has expanded across the Pacific as traffickers use island countries as transit hubs for drugs.

HIV rates in Pacific Island nations are generally low, except in Papua New Guinea, where infections have surged since 2010 to the highest and fastest-growing numbers in the region. A national HIV crisis was declared there in June 2025.

Fiji’s crisis was “a stark reminder to the world that AIDS is not over,” UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima said in a statement.