rp21 situational analysis - Pacific Health Voices

Fiji. 308 This review included an issues paper
on regional and international obligations in
the context of criminal law and planned to
include narcotics control issues.
Law enforcement
Notably, Fiji is not a member country of the
PICP network. However, Fiji is represented on
PILON. Fiji’s report to the 2008 PILON meeting
focuses on constitutional issues and the
recruitment of additional staff to strengthen
its legal systems and to enable a response to
the backlog and increasing volume of cases
to be heard. 309
Health
The Fiji Ministry of Health has identified
four main risk factors for non-communicable
diseases (NCD): poor nutrition; physical inactivity;
smoking; and alcohol/kava abuse. The
relevant areas include accidents and injuries,
research and surveillance, and monitoring
and evaluation. 310
St Giles Hospital has been the main mental
health service provider in Fiji since 1884.
The service user profile has changed significantly
over time — initially predominantly
‘expatriates’, later Indo-Fijians, and currently
ethnic Fijians. 311 It was reported in
2002 that more than 50 per cent of firsttime
admissions to St Giles included people
with a substance use disorder. 312 The high
level of admissions where the patient had
a substance use issue was explained in part
by what was described as a cultural assumption
that cannabis use induces psychosis. 313
Regulation
Fiji is both an alcohol importer and an alcohol
exporter. In 2003, Fiji exported 661 000
litres (FJ$1.8 million) of liqueurs and spirits,
particularly rum (FJ$1.5 million), beer
(FJ$0.166 million) and wines (FJ$0.11 million).
More importantly, it imported more
alcohol: liqueurs, spirits (FJ$5.2 million); beer
(FJ$0.558 million), 1.8 megalitres ($12 million);
and wines (FJ$5.9 million). At the
time customs tariffs were charged at rates
of FJ$1.55 to FJ$68.66 per litre, or 27 per
cent of total value depending on the type of
beverage and its alcohol content. 314
65
308 Qolilawa Darpan: Newsletter of the Fiji Law Reform Commission, no.14, April 2006: 1–3.
Available at: (accessed June 2009).
309 Fiji Attorney-General, Fiji Report to Pacific Islands Law Officers’ Network meeting,
December 2008.
310 Fiji Ministry of Health, National Non-Communicable Diseases Strategic Plan 2004–2008.
Available at: (accessed
April 2009).
311 E.S. Puamau (2006), Utilisation review of first admissions in 2002: St Giles Psychiatric Hospital,
Suva, Fiji. Pacific Health Dialog, 13(2): 79–87.
312 Lewa above, fn.299.
313 Ibid.
314 Provisional import data are collated on a monthly basis throughout the year, available at: