Fiji HIV crisis: The dangerous ‘bluetoothing’ trend driving the epidemic

A dangerous drug-sharing trend is driving Fiji’s HIV epidemic, a top Pacific health expert says.

Fiji’s Government this week declared an HIV national emergency after figures showed that one in 60 people now have the virus. Among pregnant women, the figure is one in 50.

It is one of the world’s fastest-growing HIV epidemics.

Pasifika doctor, Sir Collin Tukuitonga, said he had never heard of the drug-sharing trend - known as bluetoothing - until a doctor from Fiji explained it at a medical conference where the surge in HIV cases in Fiji was being discussed.

Sharing blood for the same high

“They were talking about this thing called bluetoothing, where someone will take whatever - a drug - and then they take the blood from themselves and inject it into their friend.

“It’s a way of sharing the drug because they can’t really afford the supply. So they share the drug.”

The name for the drug-sharing 'bluetooth' trend comes from bluetooth wireless technology, where data is shared between devices. Photo / File

Bluetoothing - also known as hotspotting - is a term taken from bluetooth wireless technology, where information is shared between cell phones.

Drug-users have adapted it into slang to describe the transfer of drug-infused blood from one body to another using a shared needle for a cheaper high.

Tukuitonga, the director of Te Poutoko Ora a Kiwi Centre for Pacific and Global Health, said a second doctor from Papua New Guinea, who spoke at the same doctors’ conference, also referred to bluetoothing.

Tukuitonga said it was a “very sad” development in Fiji’s HIV crisis. He said some young people were not aware of the dangers of needle-sharing.

“It’s not being spread in the way HIV traditionally is spread - sexual transmission and mother to child.

“The latest outbreak in Fiji is actually the result of drug use; it’s occurred mainly in young Fijian men who inject drugs. A lot of it relates to poverty, lack of education and lack of jobs.”

Top Pasifika health doctor and expert, Sir Collin Tukuitonga. Photo / University of Auckland

Tukuitonga said the cultural stigma and taboo around HIV and AIDS being associated with being gay also meant many people would avoid getting tested because of that perceived connection.

“But the most recent outbreak in Fiji is not so much a gay man’s problem. It’s a drug user’s problem.”

Fijian Health Minister, Dr Antonio Lalabalavu this week said the introduction of extra testing stations around the country was helping to identify more cases.

Known drug users will also have access to clean needles to help stop bloodborne transmission - something that has been controversial in the island nation.

Officials, however, say it is about helping people and are calling on the public to put an end to social shaming.

“This is about protecting people - not judging them, not watching them, not shaming them,” Lalabalavu said.

Vaimoana Mase is the Pasifika editor for the Herald’s Talanoa section, sharing stories from the Pacific community. She won junior reporter of the year at the then Qantas Media Awards in 2010 and won the best opinion writing award at the 2023 Voyager Media Awards.