Dr John Tait, ONZM, of Wellington, for services to obstetrics and gynaecology
Dr John Tait is Vice President of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologist and Chair of Te Kāhui Oranga ō Nuku, its New Zealand committee. He is Chief Medical Officer at Capital and Coast District Health Board. He has long advocated for safe and accessible abortion services for women, including access to safe medical abortion as an alternative to surgery. He co-established ISTAR to import mifepristone from France when no established pharmaceutical firm was willing to import it. He has worked with the Ministry of Health on addressing harms experienced by women as a result of surgical mesh. He chairs the Perinatal and Maternal Mortality Review Committee. Dr Tait is a Councillor of the Asia Oceania Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.