A long-serving Cook Islands medical practitioner Dr Wolfgang Losacker has added another book inspired by the country to his collection called “Sailing Adventures in the South Seas”.

The book features stories about his journey to the outer islands of the Cook Islands decades ago, while simultaneously preventing tropical diseases from spreading across these remote areas.

Rarotonga resident Losacker, who hails from Germany, had spent about 25 years teaching about the Pacific islands on cruise ships. 

The recently launched book is his 12^th in a series of books, which vary from stories about his journey in the Pacific as well.

“I took over the medical ward and children’s ward with Dr Maeva. Then they sent me as a specialist for tropical medicine to the outer islands starting in the northern groups where you had to stay for three months because there were only ship services,” Losacker explained.

“This ship comes back after three months if you were lucky and I enjoyed it so much because then I could check everyone and finish the tropical diseases and wrote the report like we always do in Europe. They sent the report from the health department to the WHO (World Health Organization) in Geneva and they sent immediately $10,000 to the health department and said to give it to the doctor to send him to all of the islands to write these reports and for the medicine needed to finish these diseases.”

Losacker said the funding helped keep the outer islands and their populations free of tropical diseases.

“This is partly written in this book,” he said.

Some parts and chapters of the new book talks about other experiences and stories of other Cook Islanders he met along the way while serving in the outer islands.

Losacker said all his 12 books were published in Germany in the German and English languages.

He said that many in Germany who had bought his book provided positive feedback about it, but often expressed more interest in the captivating beauty of the Cook Islands.

“Everyone here (Germany) loves reading them because it’s good for the tourism and I have met people who met me and they told me they came here because they read my books and they said it must be a beautiful island where I’m living,” he said.

Losacker arrived into the country as a specialist for internal medicine, cardiology, and tropical medicine. He joined Te Marae Ora Ministry of Health (TMO) in January 1981.

In the past Losacker also served as the Honorary Consul for Germany in the Cook Islands. His collection includes a coffee table book with photographs from the Cook Islands and others about his travels through the Pacific.