Heartbreaking news is emerging in Fiji, South Africa, and other parts of the world. According to reports, officials are investigating the rise in HIV cases in these countries due to what they call a trend known as bluetoothing.
The Lowdown
A troubling pattern known as ‘bluetoothing’ has emerged in parts of the world that has now attracted the attention of health officials. According to research, bluetoothing is the act of sharing needles that have someone else’s blood on them in hopes that the person’s blood allows them to get a secondary high.
According to the New York Times, the areas initially found to be affected most by the pattern is Fiji and South Africa two places that have recently clocked surges in recorded HIV infections. In its findings, the United Nations found that the problem is most persistent among people ages 15 to 34 in the affected countries.  The troubling pattern is also emerging in other poor parts of Africa and even parts of Asia where overpolicing, homelessness, drug prices, social pressures, and many being priced out of their previous lives have uprooted communities across the continent.
How does it work?
According to research, the pattern is fairly simple but incredibly dangerous. One person injects drugs (typically in most cases heroin or meth) and then someone else inject’s that first person’s real blood into themselves. In Fiji alone particularly where bluetoothing is a trend HIV infections have increased tenfold since 2014.