&lt;h2&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #ff99cc;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What is Bluetoothing?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: 400; color: #99ccff;&quot;&gt;Bluetoothing is a practice where one person injects drugs like meth or heroin into their system, then draws the blood in the syringe and injects that blood into another person. This is sometimes also known as hotspotting or flashblooding.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #ff99cc;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Why Do People Do It?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #99ccff;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: 400;&quot;&gt;People in poorer areas engage in sharing blood in hope to share the high at a cheaper cost. Experts said it is unclear if this small amount of drug actually gets the person high. It&amp;rsquo;s likely that they would experience more of a placebo or a really short high. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11209167/&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Studies&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #99ccff;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: 400;&quot;&gt; show that about 18% to nearly 40% of the surveyed drug users have engaged in or tried bluetoothing.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #ff99cc;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bluetoothing and HIV&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: 400; color: #99ccff;&quot;&gt;Bluetoothing puts you at a very high risk of transmitting HIV as it is a direct blood transfer. This gives you about 90% to 100% chance of getting HIV (and/or hepatitis C)&amp;nbsp; if the person has the virus in their system, significantly higher than even a high HIV-risk practice like needle sharing.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #ff99cc;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bluetoothing and Real World Data&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #99ccff;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: 400;&quot;&gt;Flashblooding is not new. It was &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/health/13blood.html&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;first reported way back in 2010 in Tanzania&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #99ccff;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: 400;&quot;&gt;. There are already studies that documented the risk and real HIV cases. This practice is common among vulnerable and impoverished communities, a significant number of drug users have engaged in this dangerous practice in hope of getting high.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h3&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #cc99ff;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;HIV Spiked in Fiji Due to Bluetoothing&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #99ccff;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: 400;&quot;&gt;Fiji is currently experiencing one of the world&#39;s &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.abc.net.au/pacific/programs/pacific-pulse/pacific-pulse/104879532&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;fastest-growing HIV epidemics&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #99ccff;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: 400;&quot;&gt;. Experts say bluetoothing is the driving force in surging cases of HIV in Fiji between 2014 to 2024. Fiji recorded over 1,000 new HIV cases in recent years. In 2026, the national emergency stated that about 1 in 60 adults is currently living with HIV.&amp;nbsp; Five years ago, it was only one in 167 people.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: 400; color: #99ccff;&quot;&gt;New cases in 2025 reached 2,016, which is about 16 times higher than the number in 2019. It is estimated that about half of the new cases are linked to transmission by sharing needles.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h3&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #cc99ff;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How Is Fiji is Dealing with This?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: 400; color: #99ccff;&quot;&gt;The Fijian government declares a national HIV emergency due to this rise in cases. It is estimated that 9,100 people were living with HIV last year, but only 39% of these people knew their status, and only 22% have access to antiretroviral treatment.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li style=&quot;font-weight: 400;&quot; aria-level=&quot;1&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: 400; color: #99ccff;&quot;&gt;They aim to run a harm reduction program which provides clean needles and syringes to the public, where anyone who is actually injecting has access to sterile needles and syringes so they can avoid sharing.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li style=&quot;font-weight: 400;&quot; aria-level=&quot;1&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: 400; color: #99ccff;&quot;&gt;The government plans for expanding access to PrEP alongside the needle and syringe program. PrEP is proven to help reduce the risk of getting HIV from sharing needles, and proven to reduce new cases in a lot of countries long-term.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li style=&quot;font-weight: 400;&quot; aria-level=&quot;1&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: 400; color: #99ccff;&quot;&gt;HIV care is also made readily available nationwide for people who are already living with HIV. Discrimination against the patient is illegal, hoping to reduce stigma around people living with HIV.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: 400; color: #99ccff;&quot;&gt;The government said it is estimated that these plans might help reduce the amount of new cases within 5 years, with emphasis on reducing the new case and treating the existing cases.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #ff99cc;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;HIV is Not the End&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: 400; color: #99ccff;&quot;&gt;Current HIV treatments are highly effective in controlling the symptoms from the infection. Though we can&amp;rsquo;t cure HIV entirely at the moment, these modern treatments are effective enough that a lot of people living with HIV nowadays go undetectable and can live a long healthy life.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: 400; color: #99ccff;&quot;&gt;The standard treatment is a one-pill, once-daily combination, which offers ease of access to the treatment and helps reduce the friction for people living with HIV in taking the daily medication.&amp;nbsp; Starting ART as soon as possible after diagnosis can protect the immune system from the virus entirely and prevent transmission to sexual partners once they are &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: 400;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.pulse-clinic.com/uu-faq-undetectable-equals-untransmittable&quot;&gt;undetectable (U=U)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: 400; color: #99ccff;&quot;&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Bluetoothing | The New Blood-sharing Trend That Spread Infections Across the Pacific