206 confirmed HIV cases recorded in Fiji corrections facilities

Fiji’s corrections facilities have recorded 206 confirmed HIV cases, making the disease a continuing health threat for the Fiji Corrections Service.

Commissioner Auta Moceisuva said the situation remains manageable because the Ministry of Health provides medication, expertise and support for affected inmates. He said the newly launched Patients Information System would strengthen the service’s ability to track and manage information about diseases and illnesses.

Moceisuva also pointed to ongoing difficulties in meeting international standards for disease management, particularly for HIV and for prisoners facing mental health challenges.

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The situation is currently manageable.

Assistant Health Minister Penioni Ravunawa said prisoners remain entitled to quality healthcare and necessary treatment. Care must continue when people enter custody and when they return to the community, he said, to ensure continuity and equity.

Ravunawa added that imprisonment does not reduce health workers’ ethical and professional responsibilities toward prisoners as patients.

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Being a prisoner does not diminish the ethical and professional responsibilities of health workers towards them as patients.