Tonga’s Minister for Health Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala was nominated as the next World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for the Western Pacific. It is expected that he will take office as the Regional Director on 1 February 2024, for an initial term of five years.

Dr Piukala was a candidate proposed by Tonga. He was voted by Health ministers and other senior officials from the Region’s Member States, yesterday, 17 October, during the seventy-fourth session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific, held in Manila Philippines.

Dr Piukala is a surgeon with nearly 30 years of experience as a public health leader working in Tonga and across the Pacific.

Aside from being a Cabinet Minister, 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.”

The WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, congratulated Dr Piukala on his nomination, "Dr Piukala, you have not applied for an easy job. But you have applied for one of the most important, and one of the most rewarding. It will demand all of the technical, managerial, and diplomatic skill and experience you have. But you are not alone. You are supported by a very dedicated and talented team. And I assure you of my support and that of my colleagues in Geneva. You have my full support, my full confidence and my best wishes. I look forward to working with you as we chart a path forward together.”

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.