Results for Pacific Islands

Fiji is facing one of the fastest growing HIV epidemics in the world, with 1,226 HIV cases recorded in the first half of 2025 alone. A new study by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) reports that the reuse of needles and syringes for drug use, puts people at high risk of HIV, viral hepatitis, and other injection-related infections. Methamphetamine was the most commonly injected drug.

Two new additional annual scholarships for Tonga’s high-achieving students were announced by the Australian High Commissioner, H.E. Brek Batley, during celebrations marking 55 years of diplomatic relations between Australia and the Kingdom of Tonga.

A new study led by researchers at the University of Hawai‘i (UH) at Mānoa published on 6 November in Nature Communications is the first-of-its-kind to show that waste discharged from deep-sea mining operations in the Pacific’s biodiverse Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) could disrupt marine life in the midwater “twilight zone.

Dr. Paula Vivili is the first Tongan to be appointed Director-General of the Pacific Community (SPC), the Chair of the SPC’s 14th Pacific Community Conference, HRH Crown Prince, Tupouto’a ‘Ulukalala, announced at the conclusion of the 14th Conference of the Pacific Community on Friday, 17 October, in Nuku’alofa, Tonga.

The Meningitis Foundation Aotearoa New Zealand launched new Tongan and Samoan editions of its educational colouring book ahead of World Meningitis Day on 5 October. Between 2020 to 2024, Pacific people made up 13.4% of all cases of invasive meningococcal disease, despite comprising just 8.8% of the population of New Zealand.

A Tongan delegation is led by the Prime Minster, Hon. Dr 'Aisake Eke, to the Eightieth Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA80) held this week in New York.

An inaugural Research Symposium on Loss and Damage in Small Island Developing States was held Savusavu, Fiji, this week, bringing together more than 150 researchers, policymakers and community leaders to strengthen the evidence base for addressing the irreversible impacts of climate change. The findings will inform national systems, strengthen Pacific negotiating positions, and guide the implementation of the Loss and Damage Fund ahead of COP30.

Tonga will host the next Pacific Community (SPC) Governing Meeting and 14th Ministerial Conference in Nuku’alofa, from 13-17 October.

Leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum declared the Blue Pacific Continent as an Ocean of Peace, in a ceremonial side event hosted by the Prime Minister of Fiji, Hon Sitiveni Rabuka on the margin of the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meetings in Honiara. The Ocean of Peace Declaration creates a shared regional vision for a peaceful, secure, and cohesive Blue Pacific.