Global Rural Health Leaders Gather in Aotearoa for Rural WONCA 2026

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND – Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health
Network is proud to host the 21st WONCA World Rural Health
Conference (RuralWONCA 2026), taking place 10–13 April
2026 at Tākina Wellington Convention & Exhibition
Centre, bringing together the global rural health community
in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Rural WONCA is a global,
biennial conference of the World Organization of Family
Doctors, dedicated exclusively to advancing health and
wellbeing for people who live and work rurally. The
conference provides a platform for rural clinicians,
researchers, policymakers, and community leaders from around
the world to collaborate on lasting, sustainable healthcare
solutions for rural communities.

The conference comes
at a critical time for rural health in Aotearoa. The Rural
Health New Zealand Snapshot 2026 shows that between 892,000
and 908,000 people now live in rural New Zealand, accounting
for around one in five New Zealanders, yet rural populations
continue to experience consistently worse health outcomes
than those in large cities.

Key findings from the
recently released Rural Snapshot 2026 highlight the scale
and urgency of rural health inequities:

• Māori
under 30 living in the most remote rural communities (R3)
are twice as likely to die from preventable causes as Māori
living in large cities

• Non Māori aged 30–44 in
rural areas are 1.8 times more likely to die from
preventable causes compared with their urban
counterparts

• People living in the most remote
rural areas are up to 37% less likely to be admitted to
hospital, despite poorer health outcomes, indicating
significant access barriers to secondary care

• A
four year life expectancy gap exists between people living
in large cities and those living in the most rural areas,
widening to almost ten years when ethnicity is taken into
account

Chair of Hauora Taiwhenua and Chair of the
Rural WONCA 2026 Host Organising Committee, Dr Fiona Bolden,
says the conference is focused on solutions that
endure.

“Rural WONCA is about creating health
systems that are designed for rural realities and built to
last. Sustainable rural healthcare requires equity, a fit
for purpose workforce, and models of care that reflect the
lives, distances, cultures and communities of rural
people,” Dr Bolden said.

The conference theme –
Whānau Ora: Integrating Mātauranga Māori and Indigenous
Knowledge with Rural Health for a Thriving Future reflects
Hauora Taiwhenua’s commitment to indigenous leadership,
community based solutions, and global knowledge exchange to
strengthen rural health systems for future
generations.

With over 900 delegates, from 36
countries and more than 300 presenters, Rural WONCA 2026
positions Aotearoa New Zealand as a global leader in rural
health policy, innovation and advocacy, while reinforcing
the message that healthy rural communities are essential to
resilient health systems, workforces and economies
worldwide.

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