Tonga's health system hit by cyberattack
Photo:
123RF
A team of Australian cyber experts flew to Tonga this week after the country's National Health Information System was breached, leading to a demand for payment from the hackers.
Talanoa O Tonga
reports
the Health Minister Dr ʻAna ʻAkauʻola saying the system has been shut down, and staff are handling data manually.
Dr ʻAkauʻola said that hackers encrypted the system and demanded payment, but she has assured MPs "the hackers won't damage the information" on the system.
This system was introduced in 2019 with Asian Development Bank (ADB) support to digitise Tonga's health records before going "live" in 2021.
Police Minister Paula Piukala was critical of past governments for ignoring warnings that Tonga's digital infrastructure is not fully prepared for these threats.
Journalist Sifa Pomana said the hackers are demanding millions of dollars, according to Tonga Police.
Residents are being urged to bring essential records to the hospital to help with manual record-keeping.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
7 days ago
- RNZ News
102,446 people on radiology wait list
102,446. That's the number of people around the country on the radiology wait list in the queue in the public health system for M-R-I's, X-rays, C-T scans and other diagnostic tests. That's according to a report by the union representing medical imaging technologists and sonographers. APEX says radiology services are unravelling, with 50 % of the patients waiting concentrated in just five districts according to data from March this year. It also says Te Whatu ora Health New Zealand has spent more than a hundred million dollars in the past year outsourcing radiology services to private providers. Meanwhile 45 percent of the health workers who answered the APEX survey say they are working with broken, outdated or unsafe equipment. Omar Hamed is an APEX Advocate based in Auckland. He joined Lisa Owen Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
RNZ News
11-08-2025
- RNZ News
Pacific news in brief for 11 August
The "dengue knowledge, attitudes, and practices" study was launched at the House of Tonga in Nuku'alofa last week. Photo: Tonga Ministry of Health Tonga - dengue A study on dengue in Tonga has found inconsistent prevention practices and misconceptions about the transmitting of the disease. The "dengue knowledge, attitudes, and practices" study was launched at the House of Tonga in Nuku'alofa last week. It showed 94 percent of Tongans are aware of dengue, and 81 percent know Aedes mosquitoes are the cause. Ministry of Health CEO Dr Reynold Ofanoa shared a plan including household visits, village cleanups, and stronger local engagement. Papua New Guinea - incident The member of parliament for Lae in Papua New Guinea has praised a community for not retaliating after a violent incident. The Post-Courier reports the violence began with a robbery and escalated into a confrontation between two communities, leaving four dead. John Rosso, who is also deputy prime minister, described the incident as a "barbaric behaviour". Rosso said he does not know who is right or wrong, and urged the public to trust the justice system. Vanuatu - stunting A Vanuatu health officer has been researching stunting - which includes impaired growth and development - in children in the country. Ratu Bani said stunting can affect a child's entire life. The Vanuatu Daily Post reports his study listens directly to healthcare workers in the capital to learn what they see as the causes, challenges, and possible ways forward. He plans to share his findings with the Ministry of Health to help inform better approaches to reducing stunting and improving outcomes for children. Vanuatu - whooping cough After more than a week of suspected whooping cough cases on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu, the Ministry and Department of Health have yet to confirm whether the cases are positive. A report from the Department yesterday says there is a shortage of tubes needed to store collected samples and send them for testing in Australia, Fiji, or New Caledonia. The Department says it is still waiting for confirmation of the first samples sent to Australia. A reliable source from Tanna told the Vanuatu daily Post at this stage, no further samples can be collected due to the shortage of tubes. Guam - salvage Salvage crews will be working in Guam later this year to retrieve abandoned and derelict vessels. Guam is among the eight US jurisdictions prioritized by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the NOAA, under a four-year marine debris removal program. The Pacific Island Times reported that the Boat-US Foundation announced the NOAA's four-year grant to fund debris removal and education efforts, in communities heavily impacted by underwater wreckage that poses pollution hazards. In 2021, the Navy removed submerged wreckage from the Guam Harbor of Refuge in response to the local government's request.
RNZ News
09-08-2025
- RNZ News
Iwi Māori Partnership Boards concerned their role minimised under Pae Ora Act changes
The two-day National Iwi Māori Partnership Board hui was held at the Devon Hotel in Ngāmotu Photo: supplied / Sarah Sparks Iwi Māori Partnership Boards are concerned changes to the Pae Ora Act minimises their role. A national hui hosted by Te Punanga Ora in Taranaki brought all 15 Iwi Māori Partnership Boards (IMPBs) together for the first time since their establishment in 2022. The gathering followed the first reading of the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Amendment Bill which is set to 'rebuild the health system'. There are four things within the proposed changes that Hingatu Thompson from Te Taura Ora o Waiariki IMPB wants the government to reconsider. "One is we don't agree that te Tiriti should be removed out of all legislation. The second thing is, there is a Hauora Māori Advisory Committee (HMAC), we support them having a national role, but we think they should be accountable to iwi and we can provide that channel. "The third thing is there's a Māori health strategy still within the Act, and we just want to endorse that. There's no way New Zealand is going to achieve improvement in Māori health without having a plan." His fourth concern was the role of IMPBs . Thompson said if their roles were taken away, it would be harder for Māori health to improve. Hingatu Thompson from Te Taura Ora o Waiariki IMPB Photo: supplied / Sarah Sparks "It's about the Treaty relationship, te Tiriti o Waitangi, how Māori engage with the Crown to ensure Māori are well and to make sure there is a difference for all of the inequity that we see because Māori do die younger. We do have access to the same services, but the outcomes are worse." It was announced last week that life expectancy for Māori had increased more than any other ethnic group in New Zealand, but the 3.1 year increase still kept Māori at the bottom of the rung. "It would be interesting to see where those statistics are generated from," Te Pununga Ora deputy chair Mitchell Ritai said. From heart conditions to gout, Ritai said certain medical conditions contributed to Māori dying earlier than non-Māori. "These are all historical issues and we need a system that helps to ensure that these inequities that we're experiencing as Māori are addressed in the correct way." Te Pununga Ora Deputy Chair Mitchell Ritai Photo: supplied / Sarah Sparks He believed it should be up to local people in communities who should lead the way. "Interventions, programmes, initiatives to help improve health statistics should be led locally. The change to the Pae Ora Act stops that and that's one of our concerns is that our voice, and the voice of our whānau, may potentially be silenced with these amendments." It was through the Tino Rangatiratanga clause under article two of te Tiriti o Waitangi that got IMPBs off the ground, Ritai said, it was an ability for Māori to have a direct connection to decision makers at a local level around addressing health inequities for Māori. Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said the Pae Ora legislation was the last of the changes that the "government has made to strip out te Tiriti, to strip out equity approaches to Māori health". "It's gutting for a lot of entities that have been around forever and tried the mainstream health way and seen how it's failing Māori. "The sadness is that we're tangata whenua. We're the indigenous peoples of Aotearoa. And the government doesn't think that we're worth protecting. It's quite heartbreaking when you look at the level of commitment that iwi have given." Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Elijah Pue Photo: supplied / Sarah Sparks With the backing of whakapapa and mana, IMPBs are iwi-led and iwi-appointed, therefore they hold aspirations within each of the regional iwi, Ngarewa-Packer said. "What we've been trying to do is go out to create health services in a regional bespoke way that makes sure that you can either go out to marae or go to the kaumātua wānanga, be where rangatahi are and deal with it as best suits for those communities in a regional sense. "And that's what the Iwi Māori Partnership Boards are mandated to do... advise and determine where investment should be." Public submissions on the Healthy Futures (Pae Ora) Amendment Bill close Monday, 18 August. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
