By Katalina Siasau

Tonga's National Health Information System remains locked by hackers who hijacked the system nine days ago on 15 June. Medical staff cannot access the system, while the hackers are demanding a ransom from the Tonga Government. 

The Minister for Heath, Hon. Dr 'Ana 'Akau'ola told Matangi Tonga today, that hospitals have been instructed to revert to paper-based record keeping. She said that fortunately, the relationship developed between doctors and chronic patients helps the hospital continue giving treatments while its IT system is locked. The advantage in this situation is our small population.

“That’s the importance of consistency and just going to one doctor,” she said. “This allows for continuity of care, as doctors often know their long-term patients and can identify them using medical cards.”

The Minister said the main problem is the inability to access patient records and their medical history from before the ransomware attack.

“The main concern remains not knowing the patients' records and what happened to them prior to the cyberattack.”

The Health MInistry has advised the public to bring medical cards when seeking medical care.

Paper-based records

Hon. ’Akau'ola said that the hospital administration is managing the difficult situation, so far.

“The admin is fine, but the patient record is the bigger problem, because of locked information about patients.”

However, all information from 2020 onwards is locked and cannot be retrieved, as this is when the new system was installed.

She said more cyber experts are expected to arrive in Tonga soon, to join the team of Australian cyber experts that are currently in Tonga, supported by DFAT.

The team is still assessing the damage to the system and the nature of the threat.

The cyber team is collaborating with Vaiola Hospital's ICT team and Tonga's Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT Tonga).

The amount of the ransom demanded by the hackers has not been disclosed.