UNAIDS colleagues and community advocates have paid warm tribute to Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, highlighting the former statesman’s steady, hands-on leadership in Fiji’s HIV response and across the Pacific. In reflections gathered by UNAIDS staff who worked with him, Ratu Epeli is remembered not just for speeches and policy work but for a persistent, personal commitment that brought dignity and visibility to people living with HIV.
Colleagues say his commitment was visible in small, consistent acts: he wore a red ribbon every day, they recalled, not as a performative gesture but as a quiet, constant reminder of his pledge to the cause. A UNAIDS colleague described him as their “secret weapon” — a leader who could confer credibility and humanise the response in high-level forums and everyday community spaces alike. Those memories trace back to the Vuda meeting that helped shape the Pacific’s regional HIV strategy in the early 2000s and to his co-leadership of the Commission on AIDS in the Pacific.
Ratu Epeli served in multiple roles with UNAIDS, first as a Special Representative and later as a Goodwill Ambassador, using those platforms to press for compassionate, inclusive policies. He was instrumental in shaping Fiji’s HIV Act, pressing strongly for treatment to be accessible and free to those who need it. He also publicly supported the lifting of HIV-related travel restrictions in Fiji — a move colleagues say reinforced the principle that people should not be defined or limited by their HIV status.
The tribute contains vivid examples of how his presence translated into practical support. One person living with HIV recalled how Ratu Epeli visited her at an antenatal clinic while she was expecting her first child, not as a ceremonial gesture but to check that every step was being taken to protect her baby from HIV — and that he returned for her second child. He was known to make unannounced visits to HIV clinics to check in with staff and patients, and to follow up personally when medication supplies ran low, even going to the FPBS medical supplies depot in Vatuwaqa to press for solutions.
Community groups across the spectrum — including sex worker advocates — also felt the impact of his outreach. After a brief conversation at an international conference, he promised to visit a group working with sex workers and, without fanfare, kept that promise two years later. That reliability and willingness to engage in spaces many leaders avoid were cited repeatedly as central to the progress Fiji and the region have made against stigma and barriers to care.
As Fiji and Pacific health services confront a more complex phase of the epidemic, UNAIDS staff say the foundations Ratu Epeli helped build remain critical. His colleagues argue that without his advocacy for accessible treatment, legal reforms and public visibility for people living with HIV, the road ahead would be far harder and more perilous for many. The memories gathered in this tribute emphasise not only accomplishments on paper but the way he made people feel — seen, safe and included — an enduring element of his leadership legacy.
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