The Samoa Faafafine and Faafatama Association organized a dawn candlelight vigil on Thursday 1 December to mark World AIDS Day in the capital Apia.
In his keynote address, Minister of Health, Valasi Tafito Selesele said Samoa had come a long way since the first HIV/AIDS case was detected in the country.
“The first day of December is a day of remembrance around the world for AIDS and also marks the beginning of the Faafafine and Faafatama week of 2022.”
The association patron, former Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi told his weekly press conference yesterday that there is an estimated 100 cases and people should remain vigilant to stop the spread of HIV-AIDS.
He said that AIDS week in Samoa included the annual FTA fundraising pageant raising funds for the old peoples home at Mapuifagalele.
Samoa Observer reports that the Ministry of Health’s 2017 report to UNAIDS said the first case of HIV recorded in Samoa was in 1990.
“Since that time, the recorded prevalence of the virus has remained low,” the report stated.
The report said that testing rates were low with around only four to five per cent of the population being tested each year.
“The full impact of HIV/AIDS on Samoa remains relatively unknown,” the report said.
