[Photo: FIJI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY/ FACEBOOK]

Pacific countries are being urged to learn from Fiji’s experience with the HIV epidemic before they face similar challenges.

Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica says Fiji’s experience has come at a high cost in lives and resources, and Pacific nations must work together to prevent the same lessons being learned elsewhere.

Speaking at the opening of the 2026 Pacific Islands Health Research Symposium at Fiji National University, Kamikamica told visiting Pacific delegations that the HIV situation in Fiji should serve as a regional warning.

He says Pacific countries need to share research, surveillance and information so emerging health threats can be identified and addressed earlier.

“What Fiji is learning about this outbreak, it is learning at a real cost in lives and resources. There is value in sharing that experience so that others are not required to learn the same harsh lesson independently.”

Kamikamica says the movement of people across Pacific borders makes regional cooperation even more important.

He says Pacific populations regularly move between countries for work, study and medical referrals, meaning a health trend in one country can have direct consequences for its neighbours.

Fiji declared an HIV outbreak in January 2025.

Kamikamica says the latest figures highlight the scale of the challenge, with an estimated 9,100 people now living with HIV in Fiji.

The Government recorded 2,016 new diagnoses in 2025, compared with 1,583 the previous year.

Around 70 percent of those cases are among people under the age of 39, while adult HIV prevalence is estimated at 1.6 percent.

Kamikamica says the pattern of transmission is also changing, with injecting drug use and needle sharing associated with methamphetamine use contributing substantially to transmission.

The Deputy Prime Minister says the response must therefore extend beyond Fiji and become a regional effort.

“No single Pacific country has the scale to answer these questions in isolation. And there is little to be gained by any of us relearning at a cost a lesson a neighbour has already learned.”

He says Fiji is prepared to share what it has learned from the outbreak with its Pacific neighbours.

Kamikamica says stronger regional surveillance, research and cooperation will be critical to ensuring emerging health threats are identified before they become wider crises.