Fiji registers alarming climbing HIV/AIDS infection rate: report

Fiji, an island nation with a population of around 900,000, has witnessed an increase of estimated new HIV/AIDS infections by 129 percent over the last decade from 2010 to 2021, said a newly released report.

The Global AIDS Monitoring 2022 report showed a 173 percent increase for Fiji in AIDS-related deaths between 2010 to 2021, Fijivillage news website said on Thursday.

The report also estimated that in Fiji, 1,400 people are living with HIV, with 57 percent of them knowing their HIV status and 45 percent receiving antiretroviral treatment.

The report said that treatment coverage in the island nation has increased from 39 percent in 2020 to 45 percent in 2021 and people who know their HIV status increased from 50 percent in 2020 to 57 percent in 2021.

Renata Ram, Pacific country director of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, said the data shows that AIDS remains an unfinished agenda in Fiji.

According to local reports, Fiji has logged a cumulative number of 1,417 HIV cases with 25 HIV-related deaths since 1989 when the island nation reported its first HIV case.