Fiji in World’s HIV Top Three Listing

Former Minister for Health and Medical practitioner Doctor Neil Sharma has described the recent surge in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) cases in Fiji as “disastrous.”

Dr Sharma addressed this at the 30th Fiji College of General Practitioners conference at Shangri-la Yanuca Island, Sigatoka, on Saturday.

“There are only three countries in the world, and we are number three; the other two are countries in Africa where HIV case numbers are going up,” Dr Sharma said.

“What are we doing wrong because it’s no longer as infectious as it was, we have retroviral treatment, and it has been not demystified, but what happens is somebody’s not doing their job,” he said.

“Whether it’s related to drugs, then that is another issue, but why can’t we address it holistically? HIV is a big problem, and we should be addressing it and getting it down to where it should be.”

He said that with the advancement of technology and medicine, there were other innovative ways to address this issue.

Former Minister for Health and medical practitioner Dr Neil Sharma on June 1, 2024. Photo: Salote Qalubau

“I think we also need to be frank here; the world is in a bad geo-political situation; we are just fighting with each other, but there is enough funding; there are a lot of global organisations and a lot of philanthropists who are ready to assist, but we need to write good proposals. If you get the right proposal done, there will always be money, there will always be kindness, and there are people we know who have more to give, and all we need to do is tap into that,” he said.

He said there were interconnectedness of various issues, such as HIV, drug abuse, and the economic downturn, which have been worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’ve got to be careful because if there’s going to be another wave of COVID, something worse may come unless we take shape now,” he said.

The World Population Review website states that Fiji’s HIV prevalence among adults stands at 0.3 per cent, 2000 people are currently living with HIV, 200 are living with HIV infections, and 100 are living with HIV-related symptoms.

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