Not enough manpower to tackle HIV cases, say top doctors
The shortage of health workers and weak follow-up systems threaten to derail HIV efforts.
Wednesday 30 July 2025 | 21:30
An emotional AI-generated Illustration depicting the HIV crisis and lack of healthcare manpower.
Photo: AI-Generated
Fiji’s health system is not adequately equipped to respond to a projected rise in HIV cases, according to the president of the Fiji Medical Association (FMA), Dr Alipate Vakamocea.
Dr Vakamocea raised concerns about the country’s capacity to handle what he described as an impending HIV crisis, citing human resource shortages, limited testing capabilities, and systemic challenges in patient follow-up and care.
“This projection shows a four- to sixfold increase in cases of HIV. The HIV strategy and response is slowly rolling out for the Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS),” he said.
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While the 2025-2026 National Budget has allocated FJ$10 million to address the issue, along with additional funding from development partners such as New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), Dr Vakamocea warned that the pace of response may not be sufficient.
Need for human resources
Senior medical officer-in-charge at the Sexual Reproductive Health Hub, Dr Dahiska Balak, said currently they don’t have enough human resource (HR) capacity to implement activities on the ground.
“We are in the process of identifying HR needs, mapping it and then requesting for recruitment,” Dr Balak said. “We urgently need HR so we will be recruiting them from the $10 million received from Government.”
She said the ministry will be working recruiting staffs and volunteers to assist with the implementation but this will be long term, so the ministry has to think about sustaining them by absorbing them into the ministry. “We have previously mentioned that our current health system is not currently equipped to handle the outbreak,” he said.
“But it is encouraging to see that steps are being taken by both government and development partners to address this shortcoming.”
Dr Vakamocea clarified that being “unequipped” refers not just to the absence of physical resources, but to broader issues involving systems and processes particularly in areas like human resource capacity, diagnostic testing, treatment access, and public advocacy.
Fiji Medical Association president Dr Alipate Vakamocea
Photo: Adventist Record
The challenges on the ground remain the same poor screening, inadequate testing infrastructure, inconsistent follow-up of people living with HIV, and persistent stigma that discourages people from getting tested or seeking treatment.
Fiji Medical Association president Dr Alipate Vakamocea
The association is urging the public to take the issue seriously and to get tested.
“Testing negative is a good thing, but testing positive is also a good thing because treatment is available in Fiji,” Dr Vakamocea said. “And treatment means that you are unable to transmit the virus. U=U - Undetectable equals Untransmittable.”
The FMA called stakeholders to help promote awareness and encourage regular HIV testing as part of a collective national response to the growing health threat.
Feedback: sosiveta.korobiau@fijisun.com.fj
