Tonga’s Minister for Health Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala has been nominated to become the World Health Organization’s (WHO) regional Director for the Western Pacific. He is expected to take office on 1 February 2024 for a term of 5 years, and will be based in Manila, Philippines.
Dr. Piukala’s selection was a result of votes by Health Ministers and other senior officials from the region at the 74th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Western Pacific held in Manila, Philippines on 17 October. He was a candidate proposed from Tonga.
Dr Piukala is a surgeon with nearly 30 years of experience as a public health leader working in Tonga and across the Pacific.
He has also taken up high positions such as Member of the Executive Board for the WHO from 2019 and 2022, and Commissioner for the High-Level Commission on NCDs for WHO from 2018-2020. He has worked across the region in Fiji, Niue, Nauru, and Tuvalu, and is the current Chair of the Pacific Ministers of Health Group.
“At home, we say that it takes a village to raise a child. Today, I stand here before you, not as Saia Ma’u Piukala, but as someone who is here because of that village. That village was not just in Tonga. It was my experience in the many places I have been, including Pacific Island Countries, all of the WHO work and meetings, across the Western Pacific Region and at the World Health Assembly in Geneva”, he said.
“I know that to whom much is given, much is expected, and I look forward to working with you to make our Region the one we want it to be.”
Dr. Piukala is the first Pacific Islander that has been nominated for the job. Another high level Tongan doctor, who was also Deputy Prime Minister, Dr. Viliami Tangi was not successful in his bid for the job in 2005.
Dr. Piukala’s predecessor is Dr. Zszsanna Jakab who has served as Acting Regional Director since March 2023.
The Acting Regional Director for the Western Pacific, Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab served the Region since August 2022, initially as Officer-in-Charge and then as Acting Regional Director since March 2023. The appointment of the previous regional director Dr Takeshi Kasai, was terminated in March last year, after a WHO inquiry into misconduct.