Tonga’s Ministry of Health has confirmed that critical patient records remain inaccessible two weeks after a devastating cyberattack crippled the National Health Database.
Despite efforts by local and Australian cybersecurity teams, officials admit that retrieving data from 2020 onward, when the new system was installed, has proven extremely difficult.
Health Minister Dr ‘Ana ’Akau’ola reportedly revealed that while administrative records are secure, hackers continue to hold patient information hostage.
The Ministry of Health has now urged patients to bring their medical ID when visiting the hospital.
This could help identify them and assist doctors who may still remember their conditions for treatment, even though hackers have stolen their actual records.
Global Assistance Mobilised
Additional cybersecurity specialists are expected to arrive in Tonga soon to reinforce the team of Australian experts already on the ground.
The joint task force, collaborating with Vaiola Hospital’s ICT team and CERT Tonga (Computer Emergency Response Team), is racing against time to restore access without capitulating to the hackers’ ransom demands.
Though the ransom remains undisclosed, sources suggest it could be in the millions of dollars.
The Tongan government has not confirmed whether it will negotiate with the attackers.
Impact on Healthcare Services
The prolonged outage has forced healthcare providers to rely on manual record-keeping, causing delays and disruptions.
Patients with critical conditions are prioritised, but officials warn that full system recovery could take weeks or longer if the data cannot be decrypted.
