Health Record Rights Index · country brief · this country's data as of October 1, 2026
Who holds the health record in Tonga?
In 2026, Tonga scores 46 out of 100 for how much say a person has over their own health record. It is tied for 67th of 198 countries and territories, and could rank anywhere from 50th to 89th allowing for scoring error, in the Mixed band (45 to 64). Who holds the keys: the government. Source: Health Record Rights Index, SuperTruth, this country's data as of October 1, 2026.
The government decides, with limited say for the person. Its strongest right, compared with the typical country, is doctors see it when treating you (60 out of 100, against 33 to 34 for the typical country). The furthest behind is rules for AI in your care (20 out of 100, against 30 for the typical country).
Tonga runs one national health record in every facility and passed a health privacy law in 2025, but the Ministry enforces it on itself.
Published · updated · this country's data as of October 1, 2026 · research tool, not legal advice
overall score · Mixed band, 45 to 64
46/100
rank among 198 countries and territories; likely 50th to 89th, allowing for scoring error
Low confidence. Thin evidence on 5 of the 8 rights: your copy, who sees it, joined-up record, doctors see it and research. The evidence grade rates all our sources together; confidence looks at each right. Neither changes the score.
Questions people ask
Can I see my health record in Tonga?
In 2026, getting your full record scores 45 out of 100 in Tonga; the typical country scores 40 to 45. Section 57 of the Personal Health Information Protection Act 2025 gives a right to see and copy one's record, including in electronic form, with a reply due within 30 days. There is no patient portal, and custodians may charge cost-recovery fees. Source: Attorney General's Office, December 16, 2025, and the other sources below.
Who controls health records in Tonga?
In 2026, the government holds the keys to your health record in Tonga. Control over who sees it scores 42 out of 100 in Tonga; the typical country scores 30. The 2025 Act lets patients revoke consent, tell custodians not to share, and flag sensitive information, but sharing for care runs on implied consent inside the Ministry's NHIS. Access is logged, yet no right for patients to see the log was found. Source: Attorney General's Office, December 16, 2025, and the other sources below.
How does Tonga compare?
In 2026, Tonga scores 46 out of 100, against 39 for the typical country. This brief compares it with New Zealand (48 out of 100), Nauru (42 out of 100) and Vanuatu (34 out of 100). Source: the ranking of all 198 countries and territories.
Eight rights, compared with New Zealand, Nauru, Vanuatu and the typical country
Scores out of 100, by right
Getting your full record20%
45
55 · 28 · 45
Control over who sees it20%
42
47 · 35 · 32
Privacy and security15%
45
50 · 38 · 45
One record across your care15%
58
40 · 65 · 22
Protection from sale and ads10%
40
52 · 40 · 35
Doctors see it when treating you10%
60
40 · 68 · 18
Your say over research use5%
46
50 · 50 · 46
Rules for AI in your care5%
20
40 · 20 · 22
Black dot: Tonga. Hollow dots: New Zealand, Nauru, Vanuatu (scores out of 100 on the right, same order). Gray line: the typical country of all 198. Overall: Tonga 46 out of 100. Scores move in steps of about 5 points, so read a rank with its likely range.
What would Tonga need to change to score higher?
Tonga sits in Mixed (45 to 64); Strong starts at 65. Its two weakest rights, compared with the typical country and weighted by how much each counts, are protection from sale and ads (40 out of 100, against 45 for the typical country) and rules for AI in your care (20 out of 100, against 30 for the typical country). Our scoring rules give more points for:
Protection from sale and ads: Clear limits on selling health data or using it for ads, covering apps and data brokers as well as doctors and hospitals.
Rules for AI in your care: Rules for AI used in care that are in force: AI tools regulated as medical devices, control over changes to them, and a person overseeing them, plus national rules where EU law leaves gaps.
Which laws give health record rights in Tonga?
Personal Health Information Protection Act 2025 (Act 31 of 2025): Consent, access within 30 days, audit logs, breach notice, marketing ban, research rules and NHIS governance.
Privacy Act 2025 (Act 34 of 2025): General data protection law and Privacy Commission; health is sensitive data; awaits Cabinet commencement proclamation.
Civil Registration and Digital Identification Act 2025 (Act 33 of 2025): Upgraded civil registration, a digital ID database and unique identifier numbers; births notified to the Ministry of Health.
Doctors, waits and private care context, not part of the score
Doctors per 10,000
10.1 2021
Nurses and midwives per 10,000
42.0 2021
Private insurance + out-of-pocket
7.0% 2023
Record reaches private care?
unknown
Real cases
June 20, 2025 · The Record from Recorded Future News Health ministry says ransomware locked the system holding every patient's history
June 26, 2025 · RNZ Patients asked to bring their own records after national health records breach
In 2026, Tonga scored 46 out of 100 for how much say a person has over their own health record, tied for 67th of 198 countries and territories (could be 50th to 89th), in the Mixed band. Who holds the keys: the government. Source: Health Record Rights Index, SuperTruth, this country's data as of October 1, 2026, https://healthrecordrights.com/brief/tonga/
The 12 sources for Tonga
Each source appears once, under the first right it supports. Titles are shown as our research agents recorded them, usually in the page's own language; text in square brackets is our machine translation. Links were checked on the date shown.
Getting your full record (2 sources)
“Personal Health Information Protection Act 2025 (Act 31 of 2025)”
Attorney General's Office (law or regulation) · Title in English
Dated December 16, 2025 · Link checked October 2, 2026 (opened)
Used for: Getting your full record; Control over who sees it; Privacy and security; Protection from sale and ads; Doctors see it when treating you; Your say over research use
SuperTruth Inc. · 24 S. 24th St., Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA · +1 215 918 4140 · supertruth.ai Something wrong? Tell us · Questions or a briefing: supertruth.ai/on-the-record#contact · Full index: healthrecordrights.com
OECD: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (38 mostly high-income countries). DTI™: the Data Trust Index, which grades the evidence behind each score. SuperTruth makes it and publishes this index. Everything here comes from public information: laws, government and regulator pages, court decisions, published news, WHO, OECD and World Bank data. Full sources: https://healthrecordrights.com/brief/tonga/#sources. SuperTruth built this index and sells health data verification products; no one paid to be included. Research tool, not legal advice. Our scores and our own words are CC BY 4.0; quoted law and source titles stay with their owners.
