Many of the people newly diagnosed with HIV in Fiji contracted the virus through injecting drugs. (File image) Photo: Photo / AFP
It is too early to tell what impact the current HIV outbreak in Fiji may have on New Zealand, a charity at the forefront of New Zealand's response to the virus says.
Fiji has recorded 1093 new HIV cases from the period of January to September 2024, and Fiji's minister for health and medical services has declared an official outbreak.
The United Nations programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) said there were three times as many cases between January and September as there were in the same period in 2023.
Preliminary Ministry of Health numbers showed that among the newly diagnosed individuals receiving antiretroviral therapy, half contracted HIV through injecting drugs, it said.
The rise in infections in Fiji "put the entire Pacific region at risk", UNAID's director in Asia Pacific Eamonn Murphy said.
The Burnett Foundation, formerly the New Zealand AIDS Foundation, said the outbreak in Fiji was still new and it was unclear to what extent sexual transmission was contributing to the outbreak.
"It is too early to tell what the impact will be here in Aotearoa," the foundation's interim general manager Alex Anderson said.
It was likely that sex between men was playing a role, Anderson said, but he believed that stigma about sex between men was affecting the reporting of such cases.
"We hope more data on modes of transmission will be available soon, and we will continue to monitor the situation."
The Burnett Foundation would continue to ensure people in Aotearoa had good awareness of HIV and were well-protected with condoms, PrEP( an HIV prevention medication), testing, antiretroviral therapy, and free and easy access to needles, he said.
New Zealand had a strong practice of a safe supply of needles and a needle exchange programme, he said. People who used drugs accounted for very few HIV infections in New Zealand, thanks to that programme.
Anderson said the current outbreak in Fiji also highlighted the need for temporary migrants in New Zealand to have funded access to PrEP.
"We know that there are strong migrant connections between Fiji and Aotearoa New Zealand."
Temporary migrants are not currently eligible for funded PrEP in New Zealand, and need to pay for it along with the necessary lab tests.
Anderson also called for the New Zealand government to support Fiji through the outbreak, "to ensure good access to prevention, testing and Antiretroviral therapy for people living with HIV and the establishment of a needle exchange programme".
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