Australia will provide an additional FJ$23.5 million to help Fiji respond to its HIV outbreak, with Foreign Minister Penny Wong linking the funding to regional health security and the newly signed Vuvale Union between the two countries.
Speaking in Suva on Thursday alongside Fiji’s Foreign Minister, Lenora Qereqatu Lalabalavu, Wong said the funding would expand prevention, treatment and community support as Fiji confronts what she described as the world’s fastest-growing HIV outbreak.
“Today Minister Lalabalavu and I discussed our commitment to supporting healthier communities and strengthening regional health security,” Wong said.
She said the funding was additional to Australia’s existing assistance, building on an earlier commitment of A$12 million for Fiji’s HIV response. The new package, delivered through the Vuvale Union, would support prevention programs, workforce training, community outreach, workplace support and essential health supplies.
Wong said Australia viewed the outbreak as extending beyond public health.
“Our support recognises that this is a health challenge, but it is also a security challenge,” she said, adding that Australia and Fiji were also working together to combat transnational crime and illicit drug trafficking, which she said had contributed to the crisis across the Pacific.
The announcement follows the signing last month of the Vuvale Union and the Ocean of Peace Alliance by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka. Wong said she intended to table both treaties in the Australian Parliament next week so the ratification process could begin.
“The Vuvale Union is a reminder that when Pacific countries work together, we are better placed to address shared challenges and to advance shared interests,” she said.
Wong was in Fiji ahead of the Pacific Islands Forum Foreign Ministers Meeting, where regional health, economic resilience and security are expected to feature prominently.
She said Australia wanted “a stronger region” that could respond collectively to health, economic and geopolitical challenges in what she described as “a much more uncertain world”.
Responding to questions about climate diplomacy ahead of pre-COP meetings in Fiji and Tuvalu, Wong echoed calls by Prime Minister Rabuka for world leaders to visit the Pacific.
“I join with him in saying to the world, come to the Pacific. Come to the Pacific and see for yourself the reality of climate change for Pacific Island nations,” she said, adding that the meetings were intended to elevate Pacific voices and priorities in global climate discussions.
Asked how the latest funding would translate into better outcomes, Wong said there was no single solution to Fiji’s HIV crisis.
“The funding goes to prevention, to training, to workplace support, to community outreach, and to essential health supplies,” she said. “No single leader, no single program will deal with this challenge. The whole of the community have to be engaged on this.”
She said the involvement of faith leaders, traditional leaders and community organisations would be essential if Fiji was to slow the spread of HIV.
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