‘Amelia_Afuha’amango_Tu’ipulotu
ʻAmelia Afuhaʻamango Tuʻipulotu
Tonga's minister for health
ʻAmelia Afuhaʻamango Tuʻipulotu is a Tongan nurse and former Minister of Health.
Tuʻipulotu trained as a nurse, and worked in Australia and Tonga.[1] She received an Australian Development Scholarship to attend the University of Sydney, and in 2012 became the first Tongan to receive a Nursing PhD.[1][2] After graduation, she worked for Tonga's Ministry of Health, becoming Matron of the Nursing Department at Vaiola Hospital in Tonga.[2]
In October 2019 she was appointed Minister of Health in the cabinet of Pohiva Tuʻiʻonetoa.[3] Tuʻipulotu was the only Minister from outside the Legislative Assembly of Tonga.[4]
In May 2020 she was elected to a position of Rapporteur on the World Health Organization's executive board.[5] In December 2021 newly-elected Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni replaced her as Minister of Health, reappointing her predecessor Saia Piukala.[6] In December 2022 she was appointed the WHO's Chief Nursing Officer.[7]