Tuberculosis (TB) cases occurring alongside HIV infections in Fiji have risen sharply, Assistant Health Minister Penioni Ravunawa told World TB Day celebrations at Sukuna Park in Suva, revealing co-infection rates climbed from 7 percent in 2022 to 41 percent in 2025. The ministry’s year-by-year data shown by Mr Ravunawa charted a steady acceleration: 13 percent in 2023 and 28 percent in 2024, before the marked jump last year — figures he said include cases among children.
“This trend underscores the urgent need to further integrate TB and HIV services to ensure coordinated, patient‑centred, and comprehensive care,” Mr Ravunawa said, stressing that people living with HIV are more susceptible to developing active TB and therefore require earlier detection and combined treatment pathways. He framed the rise as a growing public health challenge that demands closer coordination between disease programmes and improved service delivery through primary health care.
The percentage-based picture presented on World TB Day gives a clearer sense of how the two epidemics are now overlapping in Fiji. Earlier reporting this year documented a surge in absolute numbers: health officials recorded 160 TB‑HIV co‑infection cases in 2024 — a sharp increase from previous years — and noted a worrying rise in co‑infections among young children. Those counts complement the ministry’s percentage trend and point to an expanding burden on frontline health services.
Public health experts cited by previous coverage have argued that an expanding HIV epidemic is a key driver of the rise in TB co‑infections. Acting on those warnings, the government has already signalled a shift toward integrated responses: at the Sukuna Park event Mr Ravunawa said the Ministry of Health has identified TB‑HIV integration as a priority while strengthening its overall response to communicable diseases. He reiterated that primary health care must be the foundation for successful TB, HIV and non‑communicable disease responses.
The new figures raise immediate operational questions for Fiji’s health system — from expanding routine TB screening among people with HIV, to improving referral pathways, and ensuring that treatment for both conditions is accessible and coordinated. Mr Ravunawa’s call for “coordinated, patient‑centred” care suggests the ministry will pursue closer alignment of the two programmes, though he did not detail specific new measures or timelines at the event.
Health officials say tackling co‑infections early is vital to reduce illness and improve outcomes; the sudden increase to 41 percent signals a need to accelerate those efforts. As the government moves to integrate services, monitoring and prevention steps — particularly for vulnerable groups including children and people newly diagnosed with HIV — will be critical to curb the twin epidemics that public health authorities now describe as increasingly intertwined.
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