Sharing of needles to inject drugs has become a major concern as it has also amplified the spreading of Human Immunodeficiency Virus .

The Fiji Police Force and the Health Ministry are aware of the linkage between the use of illicit drugs in the country and the rise of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) cases through activities such as bluetoothing for IV drug users and Chem-Sex amongst the younger population that are fuelling the rise in new HIV cases.

The practice of bluetoothing is withdrawing blood after a drug hit and injecting it into a second person.

As the Health Ministry is facing a real challenge with the increasing number of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome in Fiji, the Fiji Police Force has expressed their grave concerns on the use of needles to inject drugs.

This comes after Fiji recorded an alarming 415 new HIV cases last year compared to 245 cases in 2022.

Police is working with their stakeholders in trying to address this issue.

Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mesake Waqa is urging people to refrain from even thinking drugs, let alone injecting it into your system.

Out of the 415 cases last year, 404 are adults, while 11 cases are children.

Three of the children got HIV through sexual transmission, while 8 children got HIV/AIDS through Mother-To-Child Transmission.