Mollyn Nakabea 
[Photo: FILE]
Health officials say Fiji’s HIV response is being held back by a shortage of health workers, limiting efforts to get more people tested and into treatment.
Chair of the National HIV Response Team, Dr Jason Mitchell, says the staffing shortage has made it difficult to expand clinical services and reach people who need care.
With HIV now declared a national emergency, Dr Mitchell says a five-minister Cabinet subcommittee could help fast-track the resources needed to strengthen the response.
“With the support we’re getting from the Cabinet Subcommittee, we’re hoping to mobilize additional human resources to the unit at speed, train them to be able to provide the clinical services and put in various models of outreach to be able to reach people who need to be diagnosed and enrolled in care.”
Health Minister Dr Atonio Lalabalavu says the new structure will tackle the wider barriers affecting the response.
He says the Ministry is also engaging directly with the Vanua, faith-based organizations and the communities most affected.
Dr Lalabalavu says Government also wants the response to be open about the scale of the problem and the action being taken.
“We are doing this in an open way. We are doing this out of the transparency to ensure that we are telling the world that yes, we have a problem and this is what we are doing about it and trying to reduce the transmission so that we take control of our current crisis as we speak.”
The five-member Cabinet subcommittee is chaired by the Health Minister and brings together the Ministers for Finance, Women and Children, iTaukei Affairs, and Policing and Communications.
