Sir Collin Fonotau Tukuitonga (born ) is a Niuean-born

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

doctor,

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

academic, public policy expert and advocate for reducing health inequalities of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

and Pasifika people. He has held several positions in public health and government in New Zealand and internationally.

Early life and education

Tukuitonga was born and raised in

Niue Niue (, ; niu, Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand. Niue's land area is about and its population, predominantly Polynesian, was about 1,600 in 2016. Niue is located in a triangle between Tong ...

. He completed his medical degree in

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

, followed by a master's degree in public health in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Name

Tukuitonga's first name was spelt 'Colin' for many years but as of 2022 he reverted to its original spelling with a double 'l'.

Career

Tukuitonga was Chief Executive of the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs, Director of Public Health for the Ministry of Health and also Coordinator of Surveillance of Noncommunicable Diseases for the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

(WHO) based in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

. From 2014 to 2020 he was Director-General of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community. In 2018 he was nominated by the New Zealand government to be the Regional Director of the Western Pacific Region of the World Health Organisation however he did not gain the position. In 2020 Tukuitonga was appointed as inaugural Associate Dean Pacific at the Health and Medical Sciences faculty of the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

Honours and awards

Tukuitonga was appointed a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to Pacific and public health, in the 2022 Queen's Birthday and Platinum Jubilee Honours.

Selected publications

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References

New Zealand public health doctors Living people Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit Academic staff of the University of Auckland Niuean knights 1950s births People from Alofi {{NewZealand-med-bio-stub