HIV cases could top 3,000 this year: Dr Mitchell

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cases in Fiji are projected to exceed 3,000 by the end of the year, the National HIV Board warned yesterday.

Board chairman Dr Jason Mitchell said the killer disease is spreading faster than the health system can respond.

“Fiji could have doubled last year, and this year is looking like it’s going to double again,” Dr Mitchell said.

“We expect to diagnose over 3,000 cases this year.”

Men now account for 70.2 per cent of all HIV diagnoses — a trend Dr Mitchell described as deeply concerning.
Latest statistics show:
• 1,111 men diagnosed (70.2%)
• 465 women (29.4%)
• 7 transgender people (0.4%)

Dr Mitchell said the male-to-female ratio remains high but is shifting.

“Last year, it was about two and a half times more males than females. Up to June this year, it dropped to about 1.99. The data keeps changing and it tells us the epidemic is evolving.”

Sexual transmission remains the leading mode of infection, followed by intravenous drug use and mother-to-child transmission.

Concerns have been raised in maternity wards over the increasing number of babies born HIV positive. But Dr Mitchell cautioned against alarmist comparisons.

“I don’t think we are heading in the direction of genocide,” he said.

“Thirty or forty years ago when there was no treatment, that would’ve been a real threat. Today we have effective treatment.”

Last year, 32 babies were born HIV positive out of approximately 13,000 deliveries.

“It is not the majority,” he said.

“If women are diagnosed early and put on treatment during pregnancy, we can prevent transmission.”

Dr Mitchell also addressed growing stigma and misinformation — particularly online — that wrongly targets the LGBTQ+ community.

“Unlike other regions where infections are concentrated among men who have sex with men, sex workers, or transgender people, that has never been the case in Fiji,” he said.

He emphasised that most infections in Fiji and the Pacific occur within heterosexual populations. But the landscape is changing.

“We are seeing more infections than ever among MSM, sex workers, transgender people, intravenous drug users and now young people. About 60 percent of new infections are in those under 30,” he said.

President of the Methodist Church of Fiji, Reverend Semisi Turagavou, said the rising numbers have alarmed religious leaders, especially those serving village communities.

“The church is concerned with the alarming statistics,” he said.

“We’re trying to work with other organisations, especially the iTaukei, because this affects villages and local churches.”

He said the issue is too big for the church to tackle alone.
“We are trying our best, but it is not something the church can tackle on its own.”