Fiji declares an HIV emergency and expands testing as cases surge
[September 18, 2026]
By CHARLOTTE GRAHAM-McLAY
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Fiji has declared an HIV national
emergency after data showed 1 in 60 people in the South Pacific island
nation was estimated to be infected.
The government says it is boosting testing and treatment efforts to
fight a surge in new infections, which have increased 12-fold over the
last 15 years, according to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV and
AIDS ( UNAIDS ). However, agencies now had to work together on the
crisis, officials said this week.
The latest figures showed about 9,000 people were living with HIV in
2025 in a country which has fewer than a million people, according to
the U.N. agency. It said only 39% of patients knew their HIV status and
just 22% were receiving antiretroviral treatment.
Fiji officials said 1 in every 60 adults in the country has HIV,
compared to 1 in 167 five years ago. Among pregnant women, 1 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,” Fiji's Health Minister Antonio
Lalabalavu said in a video statement on Facebook. “More people in Fiji
are living with HIV than ever before.”
Lalabalavu declared the illness had been given “outbreak” status in
January 2025 but said the Cabinet had decided this month that such a
response was no longer sufficient and should be elevated to a
designation of national emergency. That required government agencies to
work together with the health ministry on addressing the problem, he
said.
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 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. However, stigma about the illness remained an issue.
“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 exploded across the Pacific as
traffickers use island countries as transit hubs for drugs.
HIV rates in Pacific Island nations are 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 by the government in June 2025.
Even in countries with low rates, officials fear outbreaks. Most
Pacific islands nations have very small populations and not all
health services are funded or available, making the spread of
transmission difficult to curb.
Fiji's crisis was “a stark reminder to the world that AIDS is not
over,” UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima said in a
statement.
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