UNAIDS Official Visits Fiji

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe is visiting Fiji this week to assess national and regional progress against HIV/AIDS. Fiji is classified as a low-prevalence country for HIV: Just 366 cases were confirmed from 1989 to 2010. In 2011, Fiji became the first Pacific-region nation to repeal laws restricting travel by people with HIV/AIDS; it also passed the HIV/AIDS Decree to take a stand for the human rights of those infected, and to ensure that Fiji meets its Millennium Development Goals. "In order to address the MDG's HIV/AIDS goal, the Fijian government approved a new law that, among other things, safeguards the privacy and rights of persons infected or affected by HIV," said a statement from Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama. "The HIV/AIDS Decree is based on the UN International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS, and on the Declaration of Commitment to a human rights-based approach to dealing with the epidemic."

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