Drug crisis leaves grandparents and elderly parents carrying the burden

For many elderly parents and grandparents, the challenges of old age should be easing. Instead, some are using their social welfare payments to support children and grandchildren trapped in drug addiction, according to a senior mental health specialist.

Speaking at the Fiji-New Zealand and New Zealand-Fiji Business Councils 2026 Joint Conference in Nadi on Friday, St Giles Hospital acting chief medical officer Dr Afia Zahin said the country's drug crisis was taking a heavy toll on families, with some of the greatest burdens falling on older caregivers.

Dr Zahin said many elderly parents were spending their welfare assistance to support unemployed adult children battling addiction.

"We have elderly parents coming in with their young boys who are addicted to drugs," she said.

"Instead of the children looking after their elderly parents, the parents are using their social welfare money to support sons who do not have jobs and are addicted to drugs."

She said grandparents were also finding themselves in distressing situations as addiction fuelled conflict within families.

"We have a teenage girl who is looked after by her grandmother and repeatedly physically assaults her because she needs money for drugs," Dr Zahin revealed.

"And that is the reality on the ground and in the medical sector."

Dr Zahin said such cases demonstrated that the impact of drug abuse extended well beyond the individual user, often affecting entire households and placing emotional, financial and physical strain on family members.

At the same time, St Giles Hospital continues to see growing numbers of young people suffering from serious health complications linked to drug use.

"On a regular basis at St Giles Hospital we will see people aged between 13 and 24," she said.

"We have children as young as 14 years of age who are already on IV drugs."

Dr Zahin said addiction should be treated as a health issue rather than solely a criminal matter, and urged communities to look beyond the addiction itself and understand the circumstances that often lead people down that path.

She also called for greater support for families caring for loved ones with addiction, warning that elderly caregivers were increasingly carrying responsibilities they were never meant to shoulder.