Dr. Bwere Tito

Dr. Bwere Tito is a public health physician at Tungaru Central Hospital and seconded to the Kiribati Ministry of Health and Medical Services. With 11 years of public health experience, Dr. Tito leads communicable disease surveillance, NCD prevention, and one of the Pacific's most distinctive public health programmes — the health adaptation to climate change, which is an existential threat for low-lying Kiribati.

Kiribati is one of the countries most vulnerable to sea level rise and climate change, with many of its atolls at risk of becoming uninhabitable by the end of the century. Dr. Tito works at the intersection of health, climate change, and development, examining how rising seas, saltwater intrusion into fresh water, increased cyclone intensity, and population relocation affect I-Kiribati health outcomes.

Dr. Tito is bilingual in English and Gilbertese, which is essential for effective community engagement across Kiribati's remote atoll communities. He represents Kiribati at WHO Western Pacific health and climate change technical meetings.

Dr. Tito completed his MBBS at the Fiji School of Medicine and his Master of Public Health (MPH) at the University of the South Pacific, with a focus on Pacific public health and environmental health. His MPH research examined the health impacts of saltwater intrusion on fresh water quality and diarrhoeal disease incidence in Kiribati atolls.

He has completed WHO Field Epidemiology Training (FETP Pacific) and training in climate change and health through the WHO and Monash University's Climate Change and Health programme. He participated in a public health fellowship at the Australian National University's National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, focusing on climate-related health risks in Pacific island nations.

Dr. Tito's expertise encompasses communicable disease surveillance and outbreak response, NCD prevention programme design and evaluation, environmental health assessments (particularly water quality and food safety), and the health impacts of climate change in atoll environments.

He manages tuberculosis and leprosy control programmes in partnership with clinical staff, coordinates Kiribati's expanded immunisation programme, and leads the national NCD STEPS survey implementation. In climate and health, he has developed community-based vulnerability assessments and adaptation plans for outer island communities.

Dr. Tito is dedicated to serving I-Kiribati communities and building the evidence base for climate change health adaptation in one of the world's most vulnerable nations. He has published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health and the Western Pacific Surveillance and Response Journal (WPSAR) on waterborne disease and climate health in Kiribati, and has presented at the Pacific Public Health Conference and WHO Climate and Health side events at COP.

He collaborates with the Pacific Community (SPC), WHO, and AusAID-funded programmes on climate change health adaptation in Kiribati and contributes to the Pacific Climate Change and Health Alliance.

As a public health physician, Dr. Tito's primary work is population-level health improvement. He can provide advisory consultations to international organisations, researchers, NGOs, and development partners interested in Kiribati's public health situation, particularly regarding climate change health impacts.

For individual clinical care in Kiribati, patients should contact Tungaru Central Hospital's clinical departments. All visitors to Kiribati are strongly advised to carry comprehensive medical evacuation insurance given the limited specialist services available.

Dr. Tito has received the Kiribati Ministry of Health Public Health Excellence Award and a commendation from the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office for contributions to Kiribati's NCD STEPS Survey and climate change health adaptation programme. He received a Pacific Community (SPC) Climate and Health Award for his research and advocacy on health impacts of climate change in Kiribati.