Dr. Tevita Pohiva

Dr. Tevita Pohiva is a public health physician based at Vaiola Hospital and seconded to the Tonga Ministry of Health's Public Health Directorate. With 10 years of public health experience, Dr. Pohiva leads Tonga's NCD prevention programme, communicable disease surveillance, and health promotion initiatives targeting one of the Pacific's most severe NCD epidemics.

Tonga faces among the highest rates of obesity, diabetes, and hypertension in the world. Dr. Pohiva works at the population level to address these conditions through evidence-based prevention strategies, including healthy eating programmes, physical activity promotion, tobacco control, and alcohol reduction campaigns. He also manages Tonga's communicable disease surveillance and immunisation programme coordination.

Dr. Pohiva is bilingual in English and Tongan, which is essential for designing effective health communication campaigns for Tongan communities both within Tonga and in diaspora communities in New Zealand and Australia. He represents Tonga at WHO Western Pacific regional technical meetings.

Dr. Pohiva 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 epidemiology and NCD prevention. His MPH thesis examined the effectiveness of community-based NCD prevention programmes in Polynesian island nations.

He has completed Field Epidemiology Training through the WHO Pacific FETP programme and training in health promotion through the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE). He participated in a public health fellowship at the University of Auckland's School of Population Health, focusing on Pacific NCD epidemiology.

Dr. Pohiva's expertise lies in population health and NCD prevention. His core competencies include NCD surveillance using STEPS methodology, design and evaluation of community health promotion programmes, tobacco control programme management, immunisation programme planning and monitoring, and communicable disease outbreak investigation.

He advises the Tonga Ministry of Health on evidence-based NCD prevention policy and coordinates Tonga's participation in Pacific-wide NCD prevention initiatives through the Pacific Community (SPC) and WHO. He manages the Tonga NCD Trust Fund programme and coordinates with international donors supporting Tonga's health sector.

Dr. Pohiva is dedicated to serving Tonga's communities through public health research addressing the NCD epidemic. He has contributed to the Tonga NCD STEPS Survey, published findings in the Pacific Journal of Medical Sciences, and presented at the Pacific NCD Forum and WHO Western Pacific Regional Committee.

He has collaborated with the University of Auckland, SPC, and WHO on Pacific NCD research projects and contributes to the Pacific NCD Alliance's advocacy work. His research on the social determinants of obesity in Tonga has informed national nutrition and food policy discussions.

As a public health physician, Dr. Pohiva's primary work is population-level health improvement rather than individual patient care. He can provide public health advisory consultations to international development partners, NGOs, and health organisations working in Tonga's health sector.

For individual clinical care in Tonga, patients should contact Vaiola Hospital's outpatient department. Dr. Pohiva can advise on health risks in Tonga and appropriate prevention measures for international visitors, including information on communicable disease prevention relevant to travel in the Pacific.

Dr. Pohiva has received the Tonga Ministry of Health Public Health Excellence Award for his leadership of the national NCD prevention programme. He received a WHO Western Pacific Regional Office commendation for contributions to Tonga's NCD STEPS Survey and the Pacific Community (SPC) NCD Award for advocacy and community health promotion work.