Andrew Thomson (author)

Andrew Thomson (born 1963/1964) is a New Zealand born doctor and co-author of the international best selling book Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures. He has dedicated his life to humanitarian aid.

Thomson was born in Wellington and grew up in the Solomon Islands and Auckland where he went to school.[1] He attended the University of Auckland Medical School from 1981 to 1987, graduating top of his class.[2] His interest in humanitarian work came about when he was a medical student and got to know a refugee doctor who survived the notorious Cambodian killing fields.[1][2]

On graduation he worked at Auckland Hospital then with the Red Cross in Cambodia.[2] He joined the UN medical team in 1993[3] and worked in Cambodia, Haiti, Rwanda and Bosnia.[2] He has also worked with the international criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda, including exhuming mass graves to gather forensic evidence to prosecute government officials.[4]

In 2004 he co-authored the memoir Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures: a True Story of Hell on Earth with his UN colleagues Heidi Postlewait and Kenneth Cain.[5][4] The book, which was critical of the UN, exposed corruption, dysfunction and failures during its peace-keeping missions in Rwanda, Bosnia, Somalia and Haiti.[4] Thomson was sacked for his role in the book[6] but with the help of the Government Accountability Project, a whistleblower's association, he was reinstated and promoted.[3][7]

In 2006 Thomson received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Auckland.[2][8]

References

  1. ^ a b Boyd, Sarah (18 September 2004). "Sex, drugs and humanitarian aid". Dominion Post. p. 6. Retrieved 5 October 2025 – via Proquest.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Dr Andrew Thomson - Alumni and Friends - The University of Auckland". www.alumni.auckland.ac.nz. Archived from the original on 4 February 2007. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  3. ^ a b Whistle-Blower (25 March 2005). "U.N. Whistleblower Promoted". Government Accountability Project. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  4. ^ a b c "ENOUGH ROPE with Andrew Denton - episode 71: Dr Andrew Thomson (04/04/2005)". www.abc.net.au. Archived from the original on 5 February 2007. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  5. ^ Cain, Kenneth; Postlewait, Heidi; Thomson, Andrew (2004). Emergency sex (and other desperate measures): true stories from a war zone. London: Ebury Press. ISBN 978-0-09-190164-6.
  6. ^ McGrath, B (20 December 2004). "JUST WHISTLE; THE DIPLOMATS". The New Yorker. Retrieved 5 October 2025 – via Proquest.
  7. ^ "GAP - U.N. Issues Groundbreaking Whistleblower Policy". www.whistleblower.org. Archived from the original on 19 June 2006. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  8. ^ Browne, A. (10 March 2006). "Making a difference". Manawatu Standard. Retrieved 5 October 2025 – via Proquest.
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