Health Minister Ratu Atonio Lalabalavu formally announced the emergency on Sept. 15 after the Cabinet endorsed the measure. The declaration moves the government’s response into a higher level of coordination as officials expand HIV testing, treatment and prevention services.

The scale of the increase has changed the character of Fiji’s HIV response. The country had previously declared an HIV outbreak in early 2025, but the number of reported infections has continued to rise. The World Health Organization has described Fiji as experiencing a rapidly escalating epidemic.

New diagnoses have risen sharply

Fiji recorded 2,016 new HIV diagnoses in 2025, compared with about 120 in 2019, according to figures reported by Fiji’s Ministry of Health. That represents a more than sixteen-fold increase over six years.

The government estimates that about one in 60 adults in Fiji is now living with HIV, although the precise number of infections remains subject to uncertainty because not everyone living with the virus has been diagnosed.

The increase has also become visible among pregnant women. Health authorities estimate that about 2% of women receiving antenatal care are living with HIV, meaning transmission is increasingly affecting families and raising concerns about preventing infections from mothers to their children.

In 2025, 59 children were reportedly born with HIV, compared with 32 the previous year. Fiji Sun reported that 18 of those children died before their first birthday.

Unsafe injecting practices are a major concern

Health authorities and international public-health agencies have identified injecting drug use as an important driver of the outbreak.

The WHO reported that 48% of people starting HIV treatment in Fiji in 2024 were people who inject drugs, highlighting the disproportionate effect of unsafe injecting practices on new infections. The agency has also identified gaps in access to prevention and stigma-free healthcare as urgent concerns.

The government plans to expand access to HIV testing and treatment while introducing additional prevention measures, including pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP.

Officials are also preparing to accelerate a formal needle-and-syringe program and expand access to long-acting injectable prevention.

The measures reflect an effort to address transmission before infections become established, rather than relying primarily on treatment after diagnosis.

Mothers and children face growing risks

The increase in infections among pregnant women has added urgency to the response.

HIV can be transmitted from a mother to her child during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding, but treatment can substantially reduce that risk. Early diagnosis is therefore important both for the health of the mother and for preventing transmission to infants.

The number of children born with HIV in Fiji nearly doubled between 2024 and 2025, according to figures reported by Fiji Sun.

The figures also illustrate the consequences of gaps in testing and treatment access. Fiji’s health authorities have warned that without stronger intervention, the number of people living with HIV could reach 25,000 by 2029.

That projection is an estimate rather than a confirmed future total and depends on how the epidemic and national response develop.

Government expands emergency response

The national emergency is intended to accelerate the government’s response across testing, treatment, prevention and community services.

Fiji’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV Programme Management Unit is coordinating implementation with health services and community partners. Australia, New Zealand, the Global Fund, India and UNAIDS are among the international partners supporting the response.

The government is also considering a standing parliamentary committee focused on HIV and related issues, according to reporting on the emergency declaration.

Fiji’s Health Ministry maintains an HIV surveillance program and publishes national data on diagnoses and trends.

Treatment remains central to the response

The emergency declaration is not limited to preventing new infections.

People living with HIV can control the virus with antiretroviral treatment, allowing them to live longer and healthier lives. Effective treatment can also prevent sexual transmission when a person maintains an undetectable viral load.

That makes testing and sustained access to treatment important components of Fiji’s emergency response, alongside prevention programs aimed at people at higher risk of acquiring HIV.

The WHO has emphasized the need for evidence-based harm-reduction measures as Fiji responds to the outbreak.

A growing public-health challenge

Fiji’s emergency declaration comes after several years of rapidly increasing HIV diagnoses and follows the government’s earlier declaration of a national outbreak.

The immediate challenge is expanding prevention and treatment quickly enough to reduce new infections while reaching people who may have HIV but do not yet know their status.

The country’s experience is also attracting attention across the Pacific. Public-health researchers in New Zealand have warned that Fiji’s epidemic could have implications beyond its borders, particularly as countries in the region consider how to strengthen HIV prevention and treatment systems.

For Fiji, the next phase of the response will depend on whether expanded testing, treatment, harm reduction and prevention programs can slow transmission and reach communities currently underserved by the health system.

The emergency declaration marks an escalation in the government’s response. It does not, by itself, determine how quickly the epidemic will be brought under control.

Reporting Credit: Fiji Ministry of Health and Medical Services — national HIV surveillance and government response; World Health Organization — HIV epidemiology, treatment and harm-reduction evidence; Fiji Cabinet and Ministry of Health — national emergency declaration and response measures; UNAIDS and international health partners — regional HIV response support.

The post Fiji Declares National HIV Emergency as Infections Surge Across Country appeared first on Journos News - Breaking News, World News, Top Stories, Todays Headlines and Flash Reports.

A powerful new tool in the global fight against HIV has arrived — but whether it can live up to its promise may depend more on access than science.

The U.S. has just approved the world’s only twice-yearly HIV prevention shot, a drug called lenacapavir, developed by Gilead Sciences. It’s being hailed as a potential game-changer: in two major studies, it nearly eliminated new HIV infections in people at high risk, outperforming existing daily pills.

“This really has the possibility of ending HIV transmission,” said Greg Millett, public policy director at amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research.

But despite the breakthrough, there’s a growing concern: will enough people actually get the shot?

How It Works: A New Kind of PrEP

While we still don’t have an HIV vaccine, PrEP — or pre-exposure prophylaxis — has become a frontline method of preventing infection. But current options, like daily pills or injections every two months, come with hurdles: people forget doses, miss appointments, or face stigma.

That’s where lenacapavir steps in.

Marketed under the new brand name Yeztugo (it’s already sold as Sunlenca for HIV treatment), the shot is given twice a year as two injections under the skin of the abdomen. The drug forms a slow-release “depot” that offers long-lasting protection.

Users must test negative for HIV before starting, and while the shot doesn’t prevent other STDs, its ease and effectiveness could dramatically expand prevention access — especially for people who can’t or won’t take a daily pill.

Game-Changing Results From Major Studies

The numbers speak for themselves:

• In a landmark trial of 5,300 young women and girls in South Africa and Uganda, zero participants who received lenacapavir became infected with HIV. By contrast, around 2% of those on daily PrEP pills did.
• A second study involving gay and gender-diverse participants in the U.S. and other high-risk countries found similarly high effectiveness.

For people like Ian Haddock of Houston, the difference has been life-changing.

“Now I forget that I’m on PrEP because I don’t have to carry around a pill bottle,” said Haddock, who took part in the study and now gets the shot every six months. “Just remembering a clinic visit every six months is a powerful tool.”

So What’s the Catch? Access and Affordability

Despite its promise, access to lenacapavir may be severely limited — especially in places that need it most.

• In the U.S., the shot will cost about $28,218 a year before insurance. Gilead says it expects private insurers to cover it and has financial assistance programs, but looming challenges remain:
  • A Supreme Court case could overturn insurance coverage mandates for PrEP.
  • Medicaid cuts under consideration in Congress could put it further out of reach.
  • Much of the CDC’s HIV prevention outreach infrastructure was dismantled under the Trump administration, limiting efforts to get the shot to high-risk communities.

Carl Schmid of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute worries the opportunity is slipping away.

“We’re basically pulling the rug out of HIV prevention and testing and outreach programs.”

A Global Lifeline—But Not for Everyone

Worldwide, 1.3 million people are newly infected with HIV each year. Yet Gilead’s plan to expand lenacapavir access outside the U.S. is limited — and leaves out many middle-income countries.

• Gilead has partnered with six generic manufacturers to provide low-cost versions to 120 low-income countries, mostly in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean.
• Until those generics are available, Gilead will donate enough doses for 2 million people at no profit.

But that’s not enough, says Winnie Byanyima, executive director of UNAIDS.

“If it’s unaffordable,” she said, “it will change nothing.”

Countries in Latin America and elsewhere that don’t qualify as “low-income” could be stuck in limbo — unable to afford the brand-name version and ineligible for the generics.

Dr. Gordon Crofoot, a Houston physician who helped lead the U.S. trial, summed it up:

“Everyone in every country who’s at risk of HIV needs access to PrEP. We need easier access to PrEP that’s highly effective — like this is.”

The Bottom Line

Lenacapavir has the potential to become the most effective tool yet in the global fight to end HIV — offering protection that’s powerful, discreet, and refreshingly low-maintenance. But its success won’t just depend on science. It depends on the systems in place — or falling apart — to deliver it.

If access barriers aren’t addressed, this twice-a-year shot may join a long list of HIV breakthroughs that could save lives… if only people could get them.

Source: AP News – The world’s only twice-a-year shot to prevent HIV could stop transmission — if people can get it

The post The New HIV Shot That Could Stop Transmission — If People Can Get It appeared first on Journos News - Breaking News, World News, Top Stories, Todays Headlines and Flash Reports.