Fiji has officially declared a national HIV emergency on its shores after alarming data revealed that one in 60 adults in the South Pacific island nation is currently living with the virus.The Fijian government is urgently expanding testing and treatment to combat a massive surge in new infections, which the United Nations program UNAIDS notes has increased 12-fold over the past 15 years, according to The Associated Press (AP).Highlighting the rapid acceleration of the crisis, Fiji recorded more than 2,000 new cases in 2025 alone, representing a staggering 16-fold increase compared to 2019, The New York Times reported.HIV EPIDEMIC EXPLODES IN POPULAR HONEYMOON DESTINATION AS CRYSTAL METH USE SURGESThe scope of the epidemic is vast for a nation of fewer than one million people.UNAIDS estimates that some 9,000 people were living with HIV in Fiji as of 2025.Just five years ago, the infection rate was one in 167 adults, but it has since climbed to one in 60, with one in 50 pregnant women now infected, the AP said.A popular honeymoon destination for Americans, Fiji has declared a national HIV emergency after data revealed that one in 60 adults in the South Pacific island nation is living with the virus.
(iStock)The human toll is already mounting.Fifty-nine infants were born in 2025 with the virus, as the AP and Reuters reported — and 18 died before their first birthday.Health officials have pointed to a growing epidemic of injected drug use as the primary catalyst.As island nations increasingly serve as transit hubs for illicit drugs moving toward Australia and New Zealand, local markets for substances like methamphetamine have flourished.CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTERThe emergency stems from a sharp rise in high-risk methamphetamine use, with widespread needle sharing among drug users acting as a primary driver for the surging infection rates, the AP reported.Antonio Lalabalavu, Fiji's health minister, announced that the situation, previously lab...