Kiro named public health 'champion'

School of Public Health head Associate Professor Cindy Kiro has received the Public Health Association's annual Public Health Champion award.

Dr Kiro (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Hine), a former Children’s Commissioner Dr Cindy Kiro, was keynote speaker at the association's conference this week. She joined Massey three years ago after six years in the role of commissioner.

Association president Monica Briggs told the conference dinner she could not ask for a more worthy recipient than Dr Kiro. “Cindy has long been a courageous advocate for the health and wellbeing of our nation’s children. Her passion and determination to make New Zealand a better place for young people to grow up is an example to us all.”

Dr Kiro said she was "hugely honoured and very humbled" by the award and the organisation it came from. "It’s an acknowledgement by peers, which makes the award even more special because it’s by people who work in the sector who are passionate, who are driven, and who are also there to make their contribution to the health and wellbeing of Aotearoa, New Zealand," she said. “We do the work – in my case in the area of promoting children’s health and wellbeing – for years and years because we’re driven by the passion to make a positive impact for young Māori, Pacific, and all New Zealand children.