A conference on HIV/aids in the Pacific has ended in Fiji, culminating in the signing of the Suva Declaration for Parliamentarians on HIV/Aids.
Each Pacific Island state sent between 4 and 8 Members of Parliament and one health expert to the three day event.
The one hundred delegates discussed ways to improve the understanding of the disease and how to tackle it.
Dr Rufina Lautu from the Secretariat of the Pacific Community says it's a problem that varies widely in intensity across the region.
"There are some countries who have not recorded any diagnosed cases like Tokelau and Niue and then there are countries that have one or two cases like in the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. And then there are countries who've had a number of cases ranging from ten up to a hundred plus. And then Papua New Guinea is really a stand alone country in the sense that Papua New Guinea has reached generalised epidemic level."
Dr Rufina Lautu from the Secretariat of the Pacific Community in Fiji
