[File Photo]

Minister for Health Doctor Atonio Lalabalavu revealed that 82 Fijians died last year from HIV, as the country recorded a staggering 415 cases as of December.

Dr. Lalabalavu says the number of cases demands attention and collective action.

He says that compared to the previous year, Fiji recorded 245 cases for the same period in 2022.

The Minister says out of these new cases, 404 are adults, while 11 cases are children.

He says three of the children got HIV through sexual transmission, while eight children got HIV/AIDS through mother-to-child transmission (MTCT).

Of the total number of patients being diagnosed, 298 are reported to be males, 122 females, and 4 transgenders.

Dr. Lalabalavu says, in addition, that 31 of these cases were teenagers aged between 15 and 19 years.

He adds that the increase is attributed to an increase in active case finding within the MHMS using point-of-care testing.

He says that according to the Global AIDS Monitoring Report, Fiji is now one of the top two countries in the Asia-Pacific region with rapidly rising new HIV infections.