Andrew Thomson (UN Doctor and Author)
Encyclopedia
Andrew Thomson is a New Zealand born UN doctor and co-author of the international best seller "Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures
"
Graduating top of his year from Auckland School of Medicine in 1983, Thomson has dedicated his life to humanitarian aid. He has worked as a medical officer in the UN in New York, Cambodia and Haiti. He has also worked with the International Criminal Tribunal in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Rwanda. His main work was in exhuming mass graves to gather forensic evidence to prosecute government officials.
Thomson's interest in humanitarian work came about when he was a medical student at the University of Auckland where he befriended Vary a Cambodian student who was one of the 60 doctors who survived the notorious killing fields.
"Emergency Sex" was published in October 2004 in a shroud of controversy as officials as high up as Kofi Annan
tried to stop the book from being published. Thomson was sacked for his role in the book but with the help of the Government Accountability Project
, a whistleblower's
association, Thomson was reinstated and promoted.
The book has been optioned for television. Randall Wallace, script writer for Braveheart, is working on the screen play.
In 2006 Thomson received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Auckland
.
Thomson is currently a Senior Medical officer with the UN but is currently living in Cambodia with his wife and daughter.
Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures
Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures, by Heidi Postlewait, Kenneth Cain and Doctor Andrew Thomson, is the memoir of three young people who join the United Nations in Cambodia with a dream of making the world a better place...
"
Graduating top of his year from Auckland School of Medicine in 1983, Thomson has dedicated his life to humanitarian aid. He has worked as a medical officer in the UN in New York, Cambodia and Haiti. He has also worked with the International Criminal Tribunal in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Rwanda. His main work was in exhuming mass graves to gather forensic evidence to prosecute government officials.
Thomson's interest in humanitarian work came about when he was a medical student at the University of Auckland where he befriended Vary a Cambodian student who was one of the 60 doctors who survived the notorious killing fields.
"Emergency Sex" was published in October 2004 in a shroud of controversy as officials as high up as Kofi Annan
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...
tried to stop the book from being published. Thomson was sacked for his role in the book but with the help of the Government Accountability Project
Government Accountability Project
The Government Accountability Project is a leading United States whistleblower protection organization. Through litigating of whistleblower cases, publicizing concerns and developing legal reforms, GAP’s mission is to protect the public interest by promoting government and corporate accountability...
, a whistleblower's
Whistleblower
A whistleblower is a person who tells the public or someone in authority about alleged dishonest or illegal activities occurring in a government department, a public or private organization, or a company...
association, Thomson was reinstated and promoted.
The book has been optioned for television. Randall Wallace, script writer for Braveheart, is working on the screen play.
In 2006 Thomson received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Auckland
University of Auckland
The University of Auckland is a university located in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest university in the country and the highest ranked in the 2011 QS World University Rankings, having been ranked worldwide...
.
Thomson is currently a Senior Medical officer with the UN but is currently living in Cambodia with his wife and daughter.
Quotes
- There's a life-size plaster statue of the Virgin just behind the altar. She has a machete slash across her breast and someone has tried to glue her torso back together. She didn't get any more protection during the hacking orgy than anyone else, just got in the way, I guess. - The Skeleton Priest, from Emergency Sex.
- If blue helmeted UN peacekeepers show up in your town or village and offer to protect you, run.
External links
- http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/?041220ta_talk_mcgrath New Yorker
- http://www.abc.net.au/tv/enoughrope/transcripts/s1336474.htm Transcript of Andrew Thomson's appearance on Australian talk show Enough Rope with Andrew DentonEnough RopeEnough Rope with Andrew Denton is a television interview show originally broadcast on ABC Television in Australia...
, 4 April 2005 - http://www.alumni.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/for/alumni/profiles/profiles/q_t/andrew_thomson.cfm Andrew Thomson's Alumni Profile at his Alma Mater, the University of Auckland, New Zealand
- http://www.whistleblower.org/content/press_detail.cfm?press_id=315 'UN Issues Groundbreaking Whistleblower Policy' - Press Release from GAP (Government Accountability Project), released 20 December 2005