Meetings with WHO Regional Directors Spark New Initiatives to Serve Underserved Communities in the Western Pacific and South-East Asia.
Life Chiropractic College West (Life West) President Dr. Ron Oberstein and college leadership recently met with two World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Directors—Dr. Saia Ma’u Piukala, Western Pacific Regional Director, and Dr. Saima Wazed, South-East Asia Regional Director—to discuss expanding chiropractic care to underserved communities across their regions. These meetings reflect Life West’s growing global presence and its ongoing commitment to making natural chiropractic healthcare more accessible worldwide.
Dr. Saia Ma’u Piukala was a guest speaker at Life West’s Friday Seminar on Jan. 10, 2025, where he addressed students and faculty about global health challenges in the Western Pacific. Following his lecture, Dr. Oberstein and Dr. Piukala discussed ways to deepen their partnership, focusing on bringing continued chiropractic care to Tonga and other underserved areas in the region. Dr. Piukala played a pivotal role in helping Life West establish Tonga as a key destination for the college’s Global Service Trip program, which provides chiropractic care to communities that otherwise lack access to healthcare services.
Global Service Impact
Life West’s Global Service Trip program sends advanced chiropractic student interns and licensed doctors to serve communities in Tonga, India, and Mexico nearly every month of the year. In 2024 alone, the program brought chiropractic care to more than 29,000 people—many of whom received healthcare services for the first time.
“It’s incredibly rewarding to see the impact our students and DCs are making in these communities,” said Dr. Oberstein. “By working together with leaders like Dr. Piukala and Dr. Wazed, we can expand this mission and change even more lives.”
The service trips allow underserved communities to receive health care services. The positive changes in people’s lives in the few days of service is emotionally moving. People often report transformative changes in their body from ailments that have afflicted them for years.
Student interns experience first hand the power of what their care can offer to people.
During a recent trip to India, Dr. Oberstein met with Dr. Saima Wazed to discuss Life West’s ongoing efforts to bring chiropractic education to India. They explored future opportunities for collaboration in South-East Asia, with a shared focus on improving healthcare access through natural health solutions. “Dr. Wazed truly understands the value of chiropractic care,” said Dr. Oberstein. “She just gets it.”
