Siale

 

'Akau'ola

Dr Siale Akauola was appointed on the 17th of August 2026 as the Minister of Health for Tonga. He was a former Minister of Health from January to December 2024.
 
He graduated with a Bachelor in Medicine and Bachelor in Surgery (MBBS) from the University of Papua New Guinea in 1984. He also has a Post Graduate Diploma in Clinical Pathology (DCP) from the University of Otago, NZ.
 
After graduating with an MBBS, Dr Akauola completed a further two years of Resident Medical Officer training at various hospitals in PNG, before being registered as a Medical Practitioner at PNG. He returned to Tonga and commenced working as a Medical Officer at the Ministry of Health in 1986. He worked at various Medical Disciplines, which included: Surgery, Obstetrics, Internal Medicine and Accident/Emergency. From 1993 to 1995, he held the position of Pathology Registrar at the Pathology Department of Dunedin Hospital at New Zealand, while undergoing post graduate pathology training at the University of Otago. He successfully completed the training and was awarded the DCP in December 1995.
 
He returned to Tonga in January 1996 and commenced working for the Ministry of Health, as the only pathologist in the country. In 2004, he was promoted to be the Medical Superintendent of Vaiola Hospital. In 2009, he was further promoted to the position of Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Health. He held this position until his retirement in 2023, after serving the Ministry of Health for 37 years. He was recalled back by the Prime Minister of the day in 2024, to be appointed as the Minister of Health, when the former Minister of Health resigned to take up a position with the World Health Organization.
 
While Dr Akauola served as the Pathologist for Ministry of Health, he took several short-term leave periods, to work as a Short-Term Consultant (STC) for the World Health Organization, from 1999 to 2002. STC works focused on the following public health areas: Strengthening Typhoid Fever Control Programs; the Laboratory Surveillance of Vector Borne Diseases; and participation in a study to assess impact of intestinal helminth infection, environmental health and nutritional parameters, on the health of Pacific School Children. STC activities were carried out at different times, at 14 Pacific Island Countries.
 
Throughout Dr Akauola’s time as CEO for Health, he represented the Government of Tonga at regional and global health meetings on various Technical and high-level Health Policy areas. He chaired the Pacific Heads of Health Meeting at Nadi, Fiji in April 2023. Other Global/Regional Health Meetings attended included the WHO Executive Board Meeting in 2020; several WHO World Health Assembly sessions at Geneva; as well as several annual meetings of the WHO Regional Committee for WHO Western Pacific Region held at countries of the Asia-Pacific Region. He was a member of the Government delegation attending the 73rd UN General Assembly Meeting at New York in 2018. He also joined the Government delegation to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) at Kigali, Rwanda in 2022.
 
He held the following national health committees’ chairmanship: Chairman of the Mental Health Advisory Committee; Chairman of National Committee for the Control of NCD; Chairman of (multisector) Health and WASH Cluster; Chairman of National Drugs and Medical Supplies Committee; Chairman of National Health Development Committee, Technical Subcommittee (Senior Management Team of MOH); Former Chairman of the Executive Team + (ET+) committee (responsible for overseeing the Australian funded Tonga Health Sector Support Program (THSSP) which provided funds and other logistical supports for the country’s efforts to combat NCD; Former Chairman of Health Research and Ethics Committee. He was also former chairman of various other MOH technical committees during the time he was Medical Superintendent from 2004 to 2008.
 
At the Regional level, he was a Board Member of the APTC (Australia Pacific Training Consortium) from 2012-2019. Providing oversight to the work of this regional vocational training institution, which was formerly called the Australian Pacific Training College.
 
He was also a Member of the Stakeholder’s Reference Group from 2011-2014, providing oversight function for the SSCSiP program in the Pacific. (Strengthening of Specialized Clinical Services in the Pacific). He was elected to be a member of the WHO- Coordinating Council for Implementation of the Global Strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol. (2011-2014). He was also a member of the Pacific Senior Health Officials Network (PSHON) for many years.
 
In relation to Government established Statutory Boards, Dr Akauola was a former Board Member of the following governance boards: Tonga Water Board – Board of Directors, Tonga National Qualification and Accreditation Board – Board of Directors, Commissioner at the Public Service Commission.
 
For services for the people of Tonga: he was Appointed by HM King George Tupou V, to be a “Member of the Order of Queen Salote” on the 31st of July 2008.
 
He has been instrumental in pushing to use UHC (Universal Health Coverage) for better health outcome and leaving no one behind, as the goal for MOH for at least the last seven years. The aim has consistently been led by the desire to achieve UHC through Health Systems Strengthening, using Primary Health Care Principles. This led to the development and implementation of the Package of Essential Health Services as the roadmap to achieve UHC. It also led to many health infrastructure development and improvement projects with special focus on strengthening Human Resources for Health.
 
Dr Akauola was at the forefront of the Health Response to the Hunga Tonga Hunga Haapai (HTHH) January 2022 disaster, which was followed closely by the Covid19 outbreak in February 2022.
 
The relatively successful response by Tonga to the challenges posed by Covid19 were largely attributed to the following key factors:
 
• High Covid19 vaccination coverage, including booster doses, in line with recommendations of WHO.
• Timely/effective multi-sector support from key stakeholders like Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Crown Law and Development Partners.
• Co-Leadership provided by MOH and Prime Minister’s Office for the National Emergency Management Committee were quite effective.
• MOH teams - both Public Health and Clinical teams worked exceptionally well as one team, in all Covid19 preparedness and response activities.
• Strong Risk Communication and Community Engagement activities.
• Effective Logistics Support by key technical partners, especially SPC and WHO, with their timely Technical Assistance/Advice.
• Innovative use of Health Information System to collect/analyze data to facilitate monitoring and evaluation of progress.