Minister for Health, Doctor Ratu Atonio Lalabalavu says the video circulating of a group of what looks like kids doing drugs in public at Robertson Road in Suva is a stark reminder of the drug crisis the country is facing.
When asked by fijivillage News on what is being done about and what will be done going forward, Doctor Lalabalavu says people will put the blame on Government and the Police but he says the blame is on all of us.
He says Government and Police are part of the solution and they cannot do this alone.
Doctor Lalabalavu says it needs a holistic and whole of Government and whole of society to tackling the drugs crisis in Fiji. The Health Minister says personally he feels at the core of the root cause of the problem is the decay in family structure and support.
Doctor Lalabalavu says if we address the root cause of the problem then Government and Police work will be more effective.
He stresses that if we want to start addressing the problem, let’s start at home, our own Jerusalem.
The Minister says you look at the stats on HIV and again it points to the grim reality, close to 50 percent of the cause of transmission are due to unsafe injectable drug use, more than 90 percent are iTaukei, majority are within the 15 to 30 year old age groups.
Doctor Lalabalavu says the Ministry has always stated that to address HIV, they can’t do it alone and they need the whole of Fiji.
He says they can have the policy, the program, the testing capacity, medication and treatment but without the support of the community and the shared responsibility in general the problem will continue.
