The Pacific Islands AIDS Foundation (PIAF) was launched amidst much fanfare and revelry on 21 June 2003. Apart from the throng of Fiji residents at the music festival, Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase and officials from the Alliance Française and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) also graced the event with their presence.

Prime Minister Qarase announced Fiji as the first recipient country of the PIAF Fiji Hardship Grant of 20,000 FJD (US$10,680) for those living with HIV/AIDS. He said both as a Prime Minister and as a concerned Fiji Citizen that he supported PIAF “one hundred per cent”. He also added that the current reported estimate of 119 people living with HIV/AIDS in Fiji was “an alarming figure” for the small community of less than 900,000.

PIAF is a regional non-governmental organization (NGO) established in the Cook Islands in 2002. It works mainly to support Pacific Islanders living with HIV/AIDS. It has links with the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s programme for HIV/AIDS awareness and obtains technical assistance and financial support from the SPC.

(Source: Secretariat of the Pacific Community Press Release, 23 June 2003)