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Sione Tapa

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Tongan politician, physician, and philanthropist (1923–2018)

Sione Tapa (30 October 1923 – 9 May 2018) was a Tongan politician, physician, and philanthropist. He was the first Tongan to graduate with a medical degree. He served as Tonga's Health Minister from 1970 to 1996.

Tapa was born in Nukuʻalofa and educated at Tonga College and the Fiji School of Medicine. After graduating in 1944, he attended Auckland Grammar School and then the University of Otago, graduating in 1953 with an MB ChB. He worked as a medical officer for the Tongan government from 1955 to 1970, when he was appointed Minister of Health, a role he held until 1996. He also served as acting Minister of Finance from September 1970 to May 1971 while Mahe 'Uli'uli Tupouniua was studying overseas, and again from November 1972 to January 1981.

In May 1977 he was elected president of the 30th World Health Assembly, He was later chair of the World Health Organization Regional Committee for the Western Pacific from 1982 to 1983, and a member of the WHO Executive Board from 1989 to 1990. In 1991 he was awarded the WHO Health-for-All Gold Medal.

In 2012 he donated TP$1 million saved from his ministerial salary to establish a scholarship for students who wanted to study health.

Honours

National honours

References

  1. ^ "Humble, ethical lifestyle shaped career of Tongan philanthropist and Minister". kaniva Tonga. 1 June 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  2. ^ "150 Alumni Heroes: Leaders". University of Otago magazine. No. 48. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  3. "Dr Sione Tapa" (PDF). South Pacific Commission. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  4. "TONGAN STUDENTS IN NZ". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. XVIII, no. 10. p. 76. Retrieved 5 January 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. "People". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 41, no. 10. 1 October 1970. p. 93. Retrieved 5 January 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. "W.H.O. DIRECTOR'S CRITICISM Health service 'waste'". Canberra Times. 5 May 1977. p. 4. Retrieved 5 January 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. "Award of the WHO health-for-all gold medal to Dr Sione Tapa : citation". World Health Organization. 10 September 1991. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  8. "Royal orders presented at Palace". Matangi Tonga. 1 August 2008. Archived from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2022.


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