Sione Tapa (30 October 1923 – 9 May 2018) was a

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

n 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 Nukualofa (; ) is the capital and largest city of Tonga. It is located on the north coast of the island of Tongatapu, in the country's southernmost island group. History First western records of Nukualofa On 10 June 1777, British captain James ...

and educated at

Tonga College Tonga College is a Tongan secondary school, founded by the Tongan government in 1882. Its origination was a joint effort between King George Tupou I and Reverend Shirley Waldemar Baker who also both formed the Free Church of Tonga in 1885. The sch ...

and the

Fiji School of Medicine The Fiji School of Medicine is a tertiary institution based in Suva, Fiji. Originally established in 1885 as the ''Suva Medical School''. FSM became the College of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences as part of Fiji National University in 2010. It ...

. After graduating in 1944, he attended

Auckland Grammar School Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

and then the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

, 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 A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

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 The World Health Assembly (WHA) is the forum through which the World Health Organization (WHO) is governed by its 194 member states. It is the world's highest health policy setting body and is composed of health ministers from member states. T ...

, He was later chair of 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 ...

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 * The_Most_Illustrious_Order_of_Queen_Salote_Tupou_III_Member

Order of Queen Sālote Tupou III The ''Most Illustrious'' Order of Queen Sālote Tupou III is a knighthood order of the Kingdom of Tonga. History The Order was established on 28 June 2008 by His Late Majesty King George Tupou V to commemorate the grand figure of his grandmot ...

, Grand Cross (31 July 2008).

References

1923 births 2018 deaths People from Nukuʻalofa Fiji School of Medicine alumni University of Otago alumni Members of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga Ministers of finance of Tonga Ministers of health of Tonga Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Queen Sālote Tupou III {{Tonga-politician-stub