The Assistant Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Honourable Sakiusa Tubuna met with the UNAIDS Pacific Office Country Director, Ms. Renata Ram, where they discussed issues of mutual interests on multilateral cooperation between Fiji and UNAIDS and affirmed the enhanced collaboration and cooperation for our Pacific region.
UNAIDS-Fiji plays an integral role through effective policy and strategic guidance, technical collaboration and political outreach to key partners to provide technical guidance and support to the national HIV response in Fiji and 13 other Pacific island countries.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, discussions were made for the closure of the Fiji office that would jeopardize accelerated efforts that are needed to address Fiji’s growing HIV epidemic and could possibly threaten the spread to other Pacific Islands if no targeted interventions are made, aiding to the increasing inequalities.
Discussions at the meeting centered around the continued support of the UNAIDS office through the provision of expert support and partnership across government, communities, the health and education sectors to lead to focused prevention and treatment strategies and action.
