Fiji is experiencing the world's fastest-growing HIV epidemic, with new cases more than tripling between 2023 and 2024. In the first six months of 2025 alone, over 1,200 people were diagnosed. The crisis is driven by escalating methamphetamine use, unsafe injecting practices, and lack of access to clean needles, according to the UN. Half of new infections are linked to contaminated needle sharing.
Babies and children are increasingly affected. Health authorities report one baby a week is diagnosed with HIV through mother-to-child transmission. One child under five dies every month from HIV-related complications, says Dr Jason Mitchell, head of Fiji's HIV epidemic response. He describes the situation as 'preventable' and 'inexcusable'.
Clare, a mother in her early twenties, discovered her month-old daughter Andi was HIV positive after the baby suffered a cardiac arrest. Clare and her husband, an injecting drug user, were also infected. 'I thought it was the end of the world,' she says. The family is among thousands caught up in the crisis.
Stigma and denial are major barriers. Christopher Lutukivuya, an HIV activist living with the condition since 2013, says many see HIV as a sin. 'If you're living with HIV you're sinful, you're going to hell, period,' he says. He has seen people rejected by families or choosing to die rather than seek help.
Indigenous Fijians, who make up about half the population, account for 90% of HIV diagnoses. Poverty, distrust of Western medicine, and reliance on customary healing worsen the crisis. However, doctors and activists are working to educate communities that treatment allows people to live with HIV.
