Viopapa Annandale-Atherton

Viopapa Annandale-Atherton (also known as Papali'i Dr Viopapa Annandale-Atherton) is a Samoan medical doctor who has worked to improve the health of women and children in the Pacific Islands. She was the first Pacific Island woman to graduate from a New Zealand university.

Viopapa Annandale-Atherton
Born
Viopapa Annandale

Samoa
Alma materUniversity of Otago
Known forThe first Samoan woman to graduate in medicine from the University of Otago

Early life and education

Born in Samoa, Annandale-Atherton is the daughter of Edward Annandale and Sina Nelson.[1] Annandale-Atherton received a scholarship to study at Epsom Girls Grammar School.[2][3] She studied medicine at the University of Otago, graduating MB ChB in 1964.[4][5]

Career

After graduation Annandale-Atherton went to Edinburgh where she was a house surgeon at the Royal Infirmary.[3] She studied at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine receiving a Diploma in Tropical Health.[3][5]

Annandale-Atherton has served on many health organisations: the World Health Organisation's (WHO) advisory committee on long-acting contraceptives, as head of Samoa's Maternal and Child Health Department (1971–1982), one of the founders of a school for special needs (1979), on a Samoan body looking into domestic violence and human rights (1994), and president of Soroptimist International of Samoa.[3]

In 1992, after many years of moving between the United Kingdom and Samoa, she returned to Samoa to set up a general practice.[3]

Annandale-Atherton has worked to improve the health and welfare of women and children in the Pacific Islands.[5] This has included obtaining international funding for projects from USAID, the EU and WHO to support women and children, and initiating family planning services and vaccination programmes in Samoa.[3] She has been active in the Pan-Pacific and South East Asian Women's Association and was international president from 2004 to 2010.[3][6][7]

Honours and awards

Annandale-Atherton received an Honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of Otago in 2019.[8][5]

Personal life

Annandale-Atherton's great-grandfather was Thomas Annandale, a Professor of Clinical Surgery in Scotland.[3][9]

Her grandfather was Samoan businessman and politician Ta'isi Olaf Frederick Nelson.[10]

She met her husband John Atherton in Edinburgh and they had two sons.[3] Her father in law was Noel Atherton.[11]

References
  1. "Papalii Dr. Viopapa Atherton, 79; A mother of two". Samoan Observer. Archived from the original on 7 October 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  2. "Epsom Girls Grammar School "Old Girls Association" Newsletter September 2020" (PDF). www.eggs.school.nz. p. 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 February 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  3. "A woman of the Pacific". www.otago.ac.nz. Archived from the original on 7 October 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  4. "Graduate roll". The Early Medical Women of New Zealand. 25 May 2020. Archived from the original on 30 September 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  5. McPhee, Elena (17 May 2019). "English among doctorate recipients". Otago Daily Times Online News. Archived from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  6. "Pan-Pacific and South East Asian Women's Association". gg.govt.nz. Archived from the original on 26 October 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  7. "International Presidents". PPSEAWA International - Pan-Pacific & Southeast Asia Women's Association. 8 June 2010. Archived from the original on 28 September 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  8. "Dr Viopapa Annandale-Atherton and Sir Bill English, both Honorary Doctors of Law | The Governor-General of New Zealand". gg.govt.nz. Archived from the original on 26 October 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  9. "Papalii Dr. Viopapa Atherton, 79; A mother of two". Samoan Observer. Archived from the original on 7 October 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  10. O'Brien, Patricia (2018). Tautai: Sāmoa, World History, and the Life of Ta'isi O.F. Nelson. doi:10.1515/9780824872397. ISBN 978-0-8248-7239-7. OCLC 1024033073.
  11. "A Study of Annandale Families. Noel Atherton". annandale.one-name.net. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
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