epidemic

Over the past five years, Fiji – a tiny South Pacific nation with a population of less than a million – has become the locus of one of the world's fastest growing HIV epidemics.

Think of it — it could happen — as an epidemic of passive aggression against a brazenly aggressive president.

James Orr from Friends of the Earth said the figures revealed "an epidemic in relation to how we're treating our rivers, lakes and sea loughs".

However, US Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr has sharply criticised that view, describing it as "epidemic denial".

In April, Kennedy dismissed such research and arguments as “epidemic denial.”