Fiji Declares HIV Emergency as 1 in 60 Adults Live With the Virus

Q: With one in 60 adults infected, what hidden drug practices are fueling Fiji's unprecedented HIV explosion?

Fiji’s HIV surge is being driven mainly by unsafe injecting practices tied to methamphetamine use, especially widespread syringe sharing and a high-risk method known as “koda.” Health officials and UNAIDS-backed assessments say the epidemic began among people who inject drugs and is “not primarily sexual” in origin. More than 42% of known transmission cases are linked to injecting drug use, and among patients starting treatment in 2024 with recorded exposure data, 48% cited injecting drug use as the main route. Researchers found many users inject daily, often share needles and syringes, and frequently lack access to sterile equipment. The most dangerous hidden practice identified is “koda,” in which a user draws blood into a syringe, mixes that blood with drug crystals, and then reinjects it. Because the drug is mixed in potentially infected blood and the syringe is often reused or passed on, it creates an efficient route for HIV transmission. Another practice, “bluetoothing” — injecting blood from one person into another — has received attention, but researchers found it was far less common. Experts say the deeper driver is syringe scarcity. Pharmacies often refuse to sell syringes without a prescription, despite no clear legal basis, pushing users toward reused or shared equipment and even a black market. The result is a fast-moving blood-borne epidemic that has now spread beyond drug-injecting networks into the wider population, including pregnant women and newborns.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 19

More than 2,000 new HIV cases were recorded in Fiji in 2025, prompting the government to escalate an outbreak first flagged in January into a national emergency.
Methamphetamine injection is driving the surge: officials cite widespread needle sharing, while a WHO assessment found 50% of interviewees had used a potentially contaminated syringe and flagged the "Bluetooth" blood-injection practice.
9,000 people were living with HIV in Fiji as of 2025, yet only 39% know their status and 22% are receiving care, pushing authorities to expand free testing, clean-needle access and antiretroviral treatment.
Fifty-nine infants were born with HIV in 2025 and 18 died before age 1, underscoring how infections have spread beyond traditional high-risk groups; one in 50 pregnant women is infected.
UNAIDS called Fiji one of the world's sharpest rises in new HIV infections, and regional officials warned the island's role as a transport and tourism hub could spread the crisis across the South Pacific.

Sources

Fox News2d ago

Fiji Declares National HIV Emergency Amid Methamphetamine-Driven Surge

The New York Times5d ago

Fiji Declares National Emergency Over Skyrocketing HIV Cases

USA TODAY5d ago

Fiji Declares National HIV Crisis After 27% Infection Jump

20 Sources

With one in 60 adults infected, what hidden drug practices are fueling Fiji's unprecedented HIV explosion?

Why are local pharmacies blocking the exact tool that could stop Fiji's devastating HIV epidemic from spreading?

Fiji’s HIV Emergency: Inside the 2026 Surge, Systemic Barriers, and the Fight to Close a 40-22-3.2 Treatment Gap

Overview

Fiji’s HIV crisis escalated rapidly after a government-wide emergency declaration in September 2026, as infections surged among youth and the indigenous iTaukei population. Deep-rooted communal sharing traditions and a growing methamphetamine market led to widespread needle sharing, fueling transmission. Intense religious and social stigma, along with fear of arrest, drove many to avoid testing and treatment, resulting in high mother-to-child transmission rates and frequent shortages of essential medicines. As Fiji’s healthcare system struggled to keep up, looming international funding cuts threatened to worsen the crisis, raising the risk of HIV spreading to other Pacific nations with similarly fragile health systems.

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