South Seas Healthcare Trust Congratulates Deputy Chair Dame Teuila Percival on Fellowship to the Pacific Academy of Sciences
16 February 2026, Apia Samoa
South Seas Healthcare Trust proudly congratulates our Deputy Chair, Dame Teuila Percival, on her election as a Fellow of the Pacific Academy of Sciences (PAS), recognising her outstanding leadership and lifelong service to the health and wellbeing of Pacific children and families across Aotearoa New Zealand and the wider region, says Aupito William Sio, Chairperson of the South Seas Healthcare Trust.
South Seas Healthcare Trust also extends our warm congratulations to all the newly elected Fellows of the Pacific Academy of Sciences, whose collective expertise and commitment to Pacific-led research, innovation, and leadership are advancing the wellbeing and resilience of communities across our region.
As a founding member of South Seas Healthcare, established 27 years ago in Ōtara, South Auckland, Dame Teuila has been central in shaping innovative, community-centred models of Pacific health care that are now widely recognised for their impact. She helped establish the scientific value of holistic, preventative, and family-based approaches to health and wellbeing, embedding Pacific values and worldviews into models of care that work for our communities. This foundational philosophy underpins South Seas’ approach to supporting Pacific people’s health and wellbeing.
“Dame Teuila’s election to the Pacific Academy of Sciences is both a personal honour and a tribute to the generations of Pacific families, practitioners, and researchers she has inspired,” said Aupito William Sio, Chair of South Seas Healthcare Trust. “Her wisdom, integrity, and compassion have strengthened our understanding of how Pacific science, culture, and values can transform child health and family wellbeing.”
Dame Teuila’s influence extends well beyond Aotearoa New Zealand. She has contributed through her clinical work, research and advocacy to improve the health of children in Samoa and across the wider Pacific. This has included research into the burden of childhood disease in Samoa and Tonga, clinical service during the 2019 measles outbreak in Samoa, and most recently support during the 2025 dengue outbreak. Her leadership has significantly strengthened immunisation and child health efforts to protect some of the region’s most vulnerable children. Over the years, Dame Teuila has also worked with children in Tuvalu, Tokelau and Vanuatu, alongside her longstanding service to children in Samoa and New Zealand
Over several decades Dame Teuila has led and contributed to research on rheumatic fever, maternal mental health, congenital heart disease, childhood injury and Pacific child well-being, creating a substantial evidence base for Pacific child health. She is now increasingly focused on the needs of children experiencing climate-related disasters and rapidly changing environments across Pacific Island nations. Alongside this, Dame Teuila has mentored and inspired generations of young Pacific people to pursue careers across the health sector, academia, research and postgraduate study.
Through her clinical work, research, and governance leadership, Dame Teuila continues to demonstrate what it means to serve with both science and alofa — bridging evidence, community practice, and policy so that Pacific voices and solutions sit at the centre of decision-making.
Over nearly three decades, South Seas Healthcare has grown into one of New Zealand’s leading Pacific health and wellbeing providers, connecting clinical excellence with social innovation, youth and family services, research, and cultural leadership. This latest recognition of Dame Teuila’s contribution reinforces our shared mission to champion Pacific-led, evidence-based, and culturally grounded models of care that uplift families and communities across Aotearoa and Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa.
Our South Seas Healthcare Trust Board, management and staff are delighted to join with Dame
Teuila’s whānau, our Pacific partners, colleagues and communities in celebrating her outstanding achievements and the enduring legacy of her service, which continues to guide our work towards healthier, thriving Pacific communities.
For media enquiries:
Hon. Aupito William Sio
Chairperson of the Board – South Seas Healthcare Trust
Contacts:
Email: aupito@xtra.co.nz |Samoa: (685) 7274734 | New Zealand: (+64) 212430464
NOTE FOR MEDIA:
Dame Teuila and others will be formally inducted at the inaugural Pacific Academy of Sciences Congress: Harnessing the Knowledge of the Pacific, which is taking place on 16 to 18 February 2026 at Taumeasina Resort Apia, Samoa. This is a free event thanks to the generous support of the International Science Council Regional Focal Point for Asia and the Pacific funded by the Australian Government Department of Industry, Science and Resources.
The Induction Ceremony for the Pacific Academy of Sciences will take place on Monday, 16 February 2026 at 10.50am, following cultural protocols, Keynote Speeches from the Prime Minister of Samoa and the Regional Director for the WHO-Western Pacific Regional Office and messages from the International Science Council, Sasakawa Peace Foundation, and the Australian Academy of Science.
Check the programme :
