Fiji’s health system is bracing for a marked rise in HIV and tuberculosis (TB) cases over the next two to five years, health officials warn, a development that they say will place sustained pressure across all levels of healthcare delivery. Dr Priya Kaur, the country lead for HIV Vertical Transmission Elimination and a member of the National HIV response taskforce, told reporters the anticipated surge will require long-term management and involvement from every category of healthcare worker.
“We will see both disproportionately like we’ve never seen before in the next two to five years,” Dr Kaur said, adding bluntly: “It’s going to be so much that it’s going to be every healthcare worker’s problem.” Her warning comes as official figures indicate a significant TB burden: last year Fiji recorded 640 cases of TB, and 41 percent of those were co-infected with HIV. Health officials say the high co-infection rate compounds the complexity and duration of care required.
Dr Kaur stressed there are no immediate plans to create separate, specialist teams dedicated solely to HIV and TB, meaning the current healthcare workforce must absorb the additional caseload. “There’s no extra workforce that we can bring up to do just HIV and TB alone. The existing workforce will have to look after it,” she said, noting that doctors across multiple specialties — including general practitioners, paediatricians and private practitioners — will increasingly manage HIV and TB cases as demand grows.
To cope with the expected rise, the Ministry of Health is focusing on strengthening integrated health systems rather than standalone services. Dr Kaur said the ministry is improving referral pathways and rolling out digital supports, including QR-based systems, designed to assist healthcare workers with patient follow-up and inter-facility coordination. The tools aim to make referrals more efficient and to maintain continuity of care between public and private providers.
The ministry’s approach, Dr Kaur said, is intended to tighten coordination between sectors and ensure patients receive timely and continuous treatment, crucial for diseases that require prolonged therapy and monitoring. A coordinated national response, she emphasized, is essential as infection numbers climb and the health system adapts to long-term management needs for both HIV and TB.
The warning signals a shift from sporadic case management to sustained, system-wide response planning. With a high TB-HIV co-infection rate already recorded, health officials say prevention, early diagnosis, and seamless treatment pathways will be critical to avoid overwhelming clinics and to limit transmission. Dr Kaur’s comments underline the urgency for training, system upgrades and digital innovations to be deployed across primary care and specialist services to manage an evolving public health challenge.
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