French Polynesia’s Health Directorate has launched an urgent HIV prevention campaign after seven new locally transmitted cases were recorded in the first three months of 2026, officials said — a development that underlines a widening trend after annual diagnoses more than doubled from an average of 12 per year to 26 since 2024.
The campaign centres on distributing free condoms through newly installed dispensers placed at strategic sites across Tahiti and the outer islands. Authorities say the dispensers will be discreet and non‑discriminatory — available to anyone regardless of age or social background — as part of a broader push to raise prevention awareness and halt further spread. The action comes after health staff noted a drop in condom use and gaps in public knowledge about how HIV and other sexually transmitted infections are transmitted.
Health officials highlighted the stark age spread of recent diagnoses: the youngest person diagnosed is 14 years old and the oldest 78, underscoring that the virus is affecting people across generations. Nurses and clinic staff also report an increase in other STIs, including syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhoea, which can indicate higher rates of unprotected sexual activity and complicate HIV prevention efforts.
Officials warned that contact tracing has become significantly harder, with many sexual encounters now initiated through dating apps and social networks where people often use pseudonyms, avatars or false identities. Nurses report frequent situations where a person who tests positive is unable to provide reliable information to notify past partners, limiting the health system’s ability to break chains of transmission.
Authorities say most recent local HIV transmission in French Polynesia remains sexual, but they are watching worrying patterns elsewhere in the Pacific. Neighbouring Fiji has faced a sharp surge in HIV in recent years, and health chiefs in French Polynesia have singled out the 2027 Pacific Games — to be hosted in Tahiti — as a potential risk factor that could amplify transmission if preventive measures are not strengthened. The Health Directorate has said it wants to act now to “avoid a catastrophe” during next year’s regional gathering.
Public health messaging in the campaign will also seek to address misconceptions about blood transmission routes. While intravenous drug use and practices such as “bluetoothing” (sharing blood mixed with methamphetamine) have been implicated in outbreaks in parts of the region, French Polynesian officials say sexual transmission accounts for the majority of recent cases — a dynamic they say could change if other risky behaviours spread.
This is the latest development in a small but accelerating local epidemic. By flagging the early 2026 rise in cases and moving to expand prevention access and visibility, the Health Directorate aims both to curb onward transmission and to shore up systems — including partner notification and STI screening — that have been strained by shifting sexual behaviours and digital anonymity. Health authorities are urging anyone at risk to seek testing and treatment at local clinics, noting that early diagnosis and care remain central to preventing new infections.
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