Dr. Naina Paeniu

Dr. Naina Paeniu is a public health physician at Princess Margaret Hospital and the Tuvalu Ministry of Health, leading NCD prevention, communicable disease surveillance, and — uniquely among Pacific public health physicians — one of the Pacific's most active programmes on climate change health adaptation. With 8 years of public health experience, Dr. Paeniu leads Tuvalu's health response to its dual crisis of an NCD epidemic and the existential threat of climate change.

Tuvalu is widely regarded as the world's most climate-vulnerable nation. Its atolls — the highest point of which is just 4.5 metres above sea level — face inundation from rising seas, increased cyclone intensity, saltwater intrusion into fresh water and agriculture, and eventual potential uninhabitability. These threats directly affect Tuvalu's health system and population health outcomes. Dr. Paeniu's public health work bridges these two urgent priorities.

Dr. Paeniu is bilingual in English and Tuvaluan and is one of Tuvalu's most internationally connected health professionals, representing the nation at WHO Western Pacific meetings, UN climate negotiations health side events, and Pacific health forums.

Dr. Paeniu completed her MBBS at the Fiji School of Medicine and her Master of Public Health (MPH) at the University of the South Pacific, with a specific focus on climate change and health in Pacific small island developing states. Her MPH thesis examined health system resilience in Tuvalu under climate change scenarios.

She has completed WHO Field Epidemiology Training (FETP Pacific) and training in climate change and health through the Monash University climate health programme and WHO Climate and Health programme. She has participated in the Pacific Climate Change and Health Alliance capacity building programme and completed a public health fellowship at the Fiji Ministry of Health.

Dr. Paeniu's expertise encompasses NCD surveillance, communicable disease control, immunisation programme management, and — her distinctive specialty — climate change health adaptation planning for an existentially threatened small island nation.

In climate and health, she has developed Tuvalu's health sector climate change adaptation plan, coordinates health emergency response for cyclone and flooding events, manages post-disaster waterborne disease outbreak prevention, and provides health impact assessments for climate adaptation infrastructure projects. She also manages NCD prevention through community health education and leads Tuvalu's participation in the Pacific NCD STEPS Survey.

Dr. Paeniu is dedicated to serving Tuvalu's communities and to ensuring that the health impacts of climate change on Pacific island people are heard in global health and climate policy discussions. She has published in the Lancet Planetary Health on climate change and health in Pacific small island developing states, in the Western Pacific Surveillance and Response Journal (WPSAR) on post-cyclone disease outbreaks in Tuvalu, and has presented at COP climate negotiations, WHO Climate and Health conferences, and the Pacific Public Health Conference.

She collaborates with the Pacific Community (SPC), WHO, SPREP, and international climate and health researchers studying Tuvalu as a frontline case for climate change health impacts. She is a co-author on the Pacific Climate Change and Health Alliance position paper on health financing for climate-vulnerable Pacific nations.

As a public health physician, Dr. Paeniu's primary work is population health. She can provide video advisory consultations for international researchers, international organisations, NGOs, government partners, and development agencies interested in Tuvalu's public health situation, particularly regarding climate change health adaptation.

For individual clinical care in Tuvalu, patients should contact Princess Margaret Hospital's clinical departments. Comprehensive medical evacuation insurance is absolutely essential for all visitors to Tuvalu given the complete absence of specialist services and the remote location of the island.

Dr. Paeniu has received the Tuvalu Ministry of Health Public Health Excellence Award and the Pacific Climate Change and Health Alliance Climate Health Champion Award for her leadership on climate change health adaptation in Tuvalu. She received a WHO Western Pacific Regional Office commendation for contributions to Pacific climate and health policy, and the Pacific Community (SPC) Climate and Health Award. She is one of the Pacific's most recognised voices on the intersection of climate change and small island health systems.