[file photo]

The Fiji Medical Association is raising alarm over the Health Ministry’s failure to release updated HIV data for this year.

They believe that the lack of current statistics is undermining national efforts to fight the virus.

FMA President Dr Alipate Vakamocea states the latest HIV figures available are from last year, and with the year now in its seventh month, there is still no official update on this year’s infection rate.

He said this data vacuum makes it difficult to design effective screening, treatment, and awareness strategies especially as the country faces a sharp rise in cases linked to intravenous drug use and increasing rates of sexual transmission.

Dr Alipate Vakamocea [file photo]

“We are in an active outbreak. This is not normal and the issue that we have is, you know, we did that during COVID. It’s dispersed. We declared an outbreak earlier this year. We’re still referring to statistics from 2024.”

Dr Vakamocea warns that without real-time numbers, Fiji is flying blind in its HIV response.

He draws attention to the Ministry’s earlier success during the COVID-19 pandemic, when timely updates helped inform and protect the public.

Despite a $10 million budget boost targeting HIV this year, he stresses that such investments will mean little without data transparency and proper follow-through.

The FMA is calling on the ministry to prioritise the release of current HIV statistics and support targeted responses across high-risk areas.

Dr Vakamocea maintains that only sustained effort, honest reporting and proper community engagement will help turn the tide.

Health Minister Dr Atonio Lalbalavu

Health Minister Dr Atonio Lalbalavu said the Ministry was working on establishing a dedicated HIV unit to improve data dissemination.

“In terms of the data dissemination to the public that is something the ministry is working towards on it. First of all, it’s about right now we are creating a dedicated team specifically looking into HIV.Allocation that has been, uh, given by government, uh, in terms of the funding then we’ll be able to dissemination at a probably at a monthly or quarterly.”

The Health Ministry declared an HIV outbreak in Fiji earlier this year, confirming 1,093 cases recorded between January and September last year.

The announcement was made during the launch of the Fiji National HIV Surge Strategy 2024–2027.

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