Executive Board
The Executive Board is elected biannually at our Annual General Meeting. It has a governance role in ensuring that the Pasifika Medical Association achieves its aims. The Exceutive Board was elected on the 8th September, 2010.
President ~ Dr Tearikivao Maoate MBChB FRACS Gen, FRACS Paed
The scope of Tearikivao (Kiki) Maoate’s work and influence extends throughout New Zealand and the Pacific region. A Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Kiki is one of New Zealand’s leading paediatric surgeons and paediatric urologists, based at Christchurch Hospital. He has helped to develop the paediatric outreach clinical services in New Zealand and throughout the Pacific region. He is a pioneer of keyhole surgery for children and has a strong interest in research, having been a former council member on both the New Zealand and Pacific Health Research Councils. Kiki plays a leading role in the postgraduate surgical training and mentoring for students in the Pacific region as well as for Pacific students in New Zealand. Kiki is an advisor to Ministries and governments in New Zealand and the Pacific, and has served on numerous committees and boards. He is the President of the Pasifika Medical Association and is a council member for the University of Canterbury. In 2010 he was acknowledged by the Pacific Island Surgeons Association for his contribution to the development of surgery in the Pacific. In his far-reaching commitment to Pacific health, Kiki is continuing a legacy established by his father, Sir Terepai Maoate, a pioneer of health practice in the Pacific.
Vice President ~ Dr Teuila Percival QSO, MBChB, FRACP
Dr Teuila Percival holds a number of leadership positions in the Pacific health sector and academia and also played a key role in the establishment of Pacific health providers. She is Head of Pacific Health and Senior Lecturer at the School of Population Health at the University of Auckland. Her research work has been widely published. She is currently the principal investigator on the Pacific Child Health Indicators project in the Pacific and OPIC 2, the family-based intervention for Pacific children project. Teuila is also involved in research into rheumatic heart disease in Samoa and respiratory tract infection in children under two in South Auckland. Teuila is Vice-President of the Pasifika Medical Association (PMA), a trustee of TaPasefika Primary Health Organisation and serves on a number of government health advisory groups. Her work with the Pacific health sector was recognised in 2006 with a Pasifika Medical Association Service Award. Since 1995 she has worked at KidzFirst Children’s Hospital, in Middlemore,
Auckland, as a consultant paediatrician. In the 2010 Queen’s Birthday honours list, Teuila became a companion of the Queen’s Service Order for her services to the Pacific community.
Secretary ~ Dr Siniva Sinclair
Dr Siniva Sinclair is a Papua New Guinea-born Samoan/European New Zealand public health physician currently working at Counties Manukau District Health Board Planning and Funding.She completed medical and public health specialist training in Auckland, gaining Fellowship of the Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine in 2003.Between 2004-2008 she worked as the specialist public health physician for Samoa's Ministry of Health, and undertook consultancy work for the World Health Organisation, United Nations Children's Fund and Secretariat for the Pacific Community in the areas of immunisation/ vaccine preventable diseases and sexually transmitted infections.
Treasurer ~ Dr Francis Agnew MNZM, BSC, MSC(HONS), MBChB, FRACP, FAChAM
Dr Francis Agnew is a pioneer in the development of Pacific mental health services in New Zealand and the wider Pacific region. In 2010 he was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the Pacific island community in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. Francis is a New Zealandborn
Cook Islands psychiatrist and specialist in mental health and addiction issues. He has provided leadership in the development of Pacific mental health services in the wider Auckland region, and has served on many government and agency reviews, committees and task forces. Francis has been very involved in delivering mental health services in the Cook Islands and Samoa. He has been a major voluntary contributor to community activities and the work of the Pasifika Medical Association (PMA). In 2008 he was honoured by the PMA with a Service Award in recognition of his major contribution to Pacific health services in New Zealand and the region. He is Clinical Director of the Takanga A Fohe Pacific Mental Health Service at the Waitemata DHB.
Executive Board Member - Dr Kim Ma'ia'i
Dr Kim Maiai is a registered medical practitioner & a Fellow of the Royal NZ College of General Practitioners. He is the Director of Student Health Services at the University of Otago, a large multidisciplinary primary health organisation with a focus on key areas of youth health, including education & harm mitigation in the use of drugs and alcohol. He is chair of the Dunedin Urgent Doctors & Accident Centre and has had a leadership role in the development of afterhours primary care services to metropolitan Dunedin.
Executive Board Member - Dr Debbie Ryan MBChB, BSc
Debbie Ryan has filled prominent leadership roles in the Pacific health community during critical stages of its development. Her broad experience combines clinical expertise, public policy development and implementation in New Zealand and the Pacific, and involvement with numerous Pacific and
health organisations at a governance level. Debbie worked for ten years as a general practitioner in South Auckland and was one of the group that founded South Seas Healthcare in Otara. She was the Clinical Director General Practice and Chief Executive at South Seas Healthcare during its formative years. From 2003 to 2008, Debbie was Chief Advisor Pacific Health at the Ministry of Health, providing strategic leadership and guidance on health issues relating to the Pacific sector in New Zealand. Under her leadership, the Pacific branch developed an evidence-based policy function and published a range of seminal publications and resources on Pacific health. She has served on national advisory groups for the development of the New Zealand Health Strategy and the Primary Health Care Strategy, and was an advisor for the highly successful Meningococcal B Vaccine campaign and other health promotion campaigns. Debbie is a board member of the Pasifika Medical Association and is the Principal at Pacific Perspectives, a consultancy advising on policy and implementation in relation to Pacific populations. She is responsible for the 2010 Pacific Health Leaders Alumni Programme. She was awarded a PMA Service Award in 2007.
Executive Board Member - Mrs Eseta Finau NZRGON, BA, MPH
‘Eseta Finau has spent much of her working life improving nursing services for Pacific people, especially Auckland’s 40,000 strong Tongan community. She is also a spokesperson and President of the Tongan Nurses Association of New Zealand. ‘Eseta grew up in Tonga and attended Tonga High School before training in general nursing in Sydney, Australia. She travelled widely, working as a theatre nurse throughout the Pacific and Australia before returning to New Zealand. The tireless, and largely volunteer, efforts of ‘Eseta and other Tongan nurses in Auckland helped ensure the success of Langimalie, New Zealand’s first ethnic-specific health service. This was launched in 1998 and now has a patient base of more than 6,500. ‘Eseta is the head of the Tongan Nurses Association of New Zealand and helped organise the first Tongan Health Professionals Conference in 2006. She is involved in a wide range of church and community health initiatives and serves on the boards of the Pasifika Medical Association and the Tongan Health Society. She received a PMA Service Award in 2008.
Student Representatives:
The students representatives on PMA's board are yet to be confirmed.
MEMBERSHIP BOARD
The Membership Board is elected annually at our Annual General Meeting. It has an advisory role to the PMA executive board as well as the coordination and/or implementation of specific key projects as they arise.
