[Photo: File]

Traditional leaders must be included at every level of Fiji’s HIV awareness efforts, with community workers saying the taboo surrounding the issue can be broken through open and culturally appropriate discussions.

Fiji Red Cross Society Labasa volunteer Temo Sasau says traditional leaders are already open to HIV discussions and should not be left out of the response.

Speaking to FBC news, Sasau says the focus should now be on reaching out to chiefs and explaining the importance of HIV awareness in a language and approach they understand.

He says Red Cross has already conducted HIV awareness sessions in Macuata and has been given an opportunity to raise the issue at the Bose Vakoro level.

“For all the chiefs that I’ve interacted with, that Red Cross has interacted with in the Northern Division, are very open. You know, those layers that we are told about the taboo, that can easily be broken or we can walk through that bridge if you go through what was presented in the morning, the ‘Veitalanoa’. ‘Veitalanoa’ in the way and the language that they understand and are able to accept in their traditional ways”

He says the taboo surrounding HIV can be addressed through talanoa that is delivered in a way that fits traditional practices.

Sasau says the issue should also be taken to the Great Council of Chiefs, as it was discussed at that level during the early years of HIV in Fiji.

From there, he says discussions should continue through Bose Vakoro, provincial and district council meetings, and down to village level.

Meanwhile Victoria University of Wellington Master’s in health research student Patrick Tamaicakai says HIV in Fiji should not be viewed only as a health issue, but as a leadership and structural crisis.

He says traditional leaders have the authority to encourage communities to talk openly about HIV and seek testing.

Tamaicakai says health workers may not carry the same influence when speaking inside villages.

“When doctors speak inside a village, it does not carry much weight. But if traditional chiefs give their cultural mandate and talk about empowering their members of communities, empower their vusa to go and get tested, the Vanua can only move by authority from their chiefs, compared to health workers, public health workers going into communities”

The Pacific HIV Symposium 2026 is underway in Nadi, bringing together health experts, policymakers and community organisations to discuss the region’s growing HIV challenge.