Lance O'Sullivan (born 1973) is a New Zealand

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 Co ...

doctor (

Te Rarawa Te Rarawa is a Māori iwi of Northland, New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New ...

, Ngati Hau, Ngati Maru) formerly practising in

Kaitaia Kaitaia () is a town in the Far North District of New Zealand, at the base of the Aupōuri Peninsula, about 160 km northwest of Whangārei. It is the last major settlement on State Highway 1. Ahipara Bay, the southern end of Te Oneroa-a- ...

, Northland. He is also an author, public speaker and public health advocate. In 2013 O'Sullivan was declared Ngā Toa Whakaihuwaka (Supreme Māori of the year), and in 2014 he was declared New Zealander of the Year 2014 for bringing health programmes to disadvantaged in rural areas.

Early life and education

O'Sullivan grew up in the

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

suburb of Howick and was raised by his single

Pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...

mother after she left his alcoholic and violent father. His sister, Nikki, is three years older. He attended school at Pakuranga College and Timaru Boys' High School. Each school expelled him before his mother sent him to

Hato Petera College Hato Petera College (formerly called St Peter's Māori College) was an integrated, co-educational college in Northcote Central, Auckland, New Zealand for students from Year 9 to Year 13. It existed for 90 years, opening on 3 June 1928 and cl ...

as a boarder. O'Sullivan completed his high school education as

dux ''Dux'' (, : ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, ''dux'' coul ...

head boy The two Senior Prefects, individually called Head Boy (for the male), and Head Girl (for the female) are students who carry leadership roles and are responsible for representing the school's entire student body. Although mostly out of use, in some ...

, sports champ and a kapa haka star. After graduating from

he spent 2 years working for

Customs Customs is an authority or Government agency, agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling International trade, the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out ...

after dropping out of a science degree programme and becoming a father. At the age of 21 he was accepted into Auckland Medical School. O'Sullivan graduated from Auckland Medical School in 2001.

Career and health programmes

After graduating from medical school, O'Sullivan went to work in the

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty () is a large bight (geography), bight along the northern coast of New Zealand's North Island. It stretches from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaway in the east. Called ''Te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi'' (the Ocean ...

where doctors working in isolated and deprived places like

Murupara Murupara is a town in the Whakatāne District and Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island. The town is in an isolated part of the region between the Kaingaroa Forest and Te Urewera protected area, on the banks of the Rangitaiki Riv ...

and Kaingaroa influenced him. After five years in the

, he was offered a job by a

Māori health provider and returned "home" to his

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

affiliations, namely

, through his grandmother from

Pukepoto Pukepoto is a town in Northland, New Zealand. It lies south west of Kaitaia and north east of Ahipara. The Herekino Forest lies to the south east. is a cobalt blue pigment which can be found in clay rock. Demographics Pukepoto is in an SA1 s ...

. In 2012 O'Sullivan had a public falling out with his employer after a difference of opinion over how to deal with patients who couldn't afford to pay for medical treatment. With his wife Tracy, he set up a company Navilluso Medical, which set up the MOKO foundation in 2013. The MOKO foundation started a number of healthcare initiatives.. In March 2018 O'Sullivan announced that he was moving his business to Auckland, citing the difficulties of growing such a business in a rural area.

Te Kohanga Whakaora

On 19 November 2012 O'Sullivan and his wife, Tracy, set up the low-cost health clinic "Te Kohanga Whakaora" (The Nest of Wellness). The clinic was based in the

Hospital. The aim was to make basic healthcare accessible for people in the Far North who were unable to afford it. The clinic had emergency prescription funds donated from New Zealanders around the country.

Manawa Ora Korokoro Ora

In October 2012 O'Sullivan started the MOKO programme ("Manawa Ora Korokoro Ora" healthy heart, healthy throat), Northland's first full-time, school-based health clinic providing medical care to 2000 children within a 25 km radius of

Health Ministry A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entity, Subnational entities, such as State (administrative division), states, county, counties an ...

provided support with additional funding from the charity

KidsCan The KidsCan Charitable Trust (trading as KidsCan) is a New Zealand based charitable trust. It was founded in 2005 in Greenhithe, Auckland, New Zealand by Julie Chapman and works to help address New Zealand kids living in poverty (defined as l ...

.. The program focuses primarily on preventing

rheumatic fever Rheumatic fever (RF) is an inflammation#Disorders, inflammatory disease that can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain. The disease typically develops two to four weeks after a Streptococcal pharyngitis, streptococcal throat infection. Si ...

by taking a throat swab from every child with a sore throat. The programme also provides basic medical care for nits, skin and chest infections with nurses and health workers visiting each

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

and intermediate school three times a week. There are also two GP sessions each week to take care of more complex cases.

Kāinga Ora

The "Kainga Ora (Well Home)" initiative promotes the idea that wellness begins in safe, warm homes. The initiative commenced in 2012 when O'Sullivan drove around

and called in to some of the most rundown looking houses. He found families living with children who were sick due to the condition of their homes. He recruited labour and donated materials to help repair the homes.

iMOKO

iMOKO started in 2014 as an extension the vMOKO programme. Trained nurses and health workers collected data including photographs and forward it to O'Sullivan's practice in Kaitaia. Photographs were taken as required and O'Sullivan provided a diagnosis or passed the data on for a higher-level diagnosis. iMOKO also provides the capability to send required prescriptions to a nearby pharmacy for collection. The programme saves families long trips to the clinic at Kaitaia, runs efficiently, and can detect disease in the early stages. By November 2016, 4000 children in approximately 35 early childhood centres, Kōhanga Reo, primary, intermediate and secondary schools participated in this healthcare model.

MaiHealth

In 2017, two virtual health clinics were opened: the first in the doctor-less town of

Patea Patea ( ) is the third-largest town in South Taranaki District, New Zealand. It is on the western bank of the Pātea River, 61 kilometres north-west of Whanganui on . Hāwera is 27 km to the north-west, and Waverley, Taranaki, Waverley 17 ...

; the second in

. The clinics enable patients to attend and access healthcare under the iMOKO model with the assistance of trained healthcare workers. In November 2017 the

Accident Compensation Corporation The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) () is the New Zealand Crown entity responsible for administering the country's No-fault insurance, no-fault accidental injury compensation scheme, commonly referred to as the ACC scheme. The scheme pro ...

and the Ministry of Health announced they would provide O'Sullivan's company, Navilluso Medical, NZ$1.4 million over two years to develop its MaiHealth model

Coronavirus pandemic

During the COVID-19 Pandemic he publicly criticised the residents of Kaitaia for breaching the lockdown conditions, only to admit later in April 2020 that he had breached the level 4 lockdown by going kayaking.

Advocacy

On 23 May 2017, O'Sullivan disrupted a screening of the anti-vaccine propaganda film ''

Vaxxed ''Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe'' is a 2016 American pseudoscience propaganda film alleging a cover-up by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of a purported link between the MMR vaccine and autism. According to Variety ...

'' in

, and criticised the movie before performing the

Haka Haka (, ; singular ''haka'', in both Māori language, Māori and New Zealand English) are a variety of ceremonial dances in Māori culture. A performance art, hakas are often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the f ...

. He addressed the audience, saying that: His action was supported by the

Health Minister A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...

at the time, Jonathan Coleman. O'Sullivan featured in a video supporting the End of Life Choice Bill which had passed the first reading in the

New Zealand Parliament The New Zealand Parliament () is the unicameral legislature of New Zealand, consisting of the Monarchy of New Zealand, Sovereign and the New Zealand House of Representatives. The King is usually represented by his Governor-General of New Zeal ...

in December 2017.

Bibliography

* ''The Good Doctor: Breaking the Rules, Making a Difference,''

Penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

, 24 June 2015,

Awards

* Distinguished Alumni -

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

2017 * Denis Dutton Award 2017, for courageous and highly visible contributions to the promotion of immunisation and vaccination in New Zealand. * Communicator of the Year Award 2015 * New Zealander of the Year 2014 for his work on rural health projects. * Sir Peter Blake Leadership Award 2013 * Supreme Māori of the year 2013 * Public Health Champion (Public Health Association of New Zealand) 2013

References

External links

iMOKO
{{DEFAULTSORT:OSullivan, Lance Living people 1973 births 20th-century New Zealand medical doctors 21st-century New Zealand medical doctors Date of birth missing (living people) New Zealand Māori medical doctors Ngāti Hau people Ngāti Maru (Hauraki) people People educated at Hato Petera College, Auckland People from Kaitaia Medical doctors from Auckland Te Rarawa people University of Auckland alumni