Not happy at all with Budget allocation for health sector

YOUR article stating ‘Health sector gets third largest share’ yesterday did not go down well with some health professionals and readers in Hela.
The Hela Provincial Health Authority (HPHA) was established recently and yet the K1 million was under budgeted.
Of all the 10 provincial health authorities in the country, nine of them received allocations above K16m and the only exception was Hela.
According to the article, West New Britain Health Authority received the highest with K34.6m.
So why was Hela’s health budget far the lowest?
It does not make sense for this new province to receiving such a low amount.
The provincial hospital needs to build its capacity in terms of infrastructure and staff development and other necessary facilities to meet the required standards. Therefore, the government funding should be sufficient to cater for all those challenges.
Under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement through the influential leadership of former CEO and Acting Provincial Health Adviser Dr Hamiya Hewali, the hospital had performed exceptionally well thus putting its level among top 10 performing provincial hospitals in the country.
The PPP agreement with the corporate giant in Oil Search Limited and its managing director Peter Botten becoming the chairman of the authority, Hela Provincial Hospital is destined to become a model hospital for others to emulate.
The Government, through its health budget, should appreciate this success story by providing sufficient funding to carry forward its progress.
Hela is a very challenging province and the Government should be fair and prioritise where needs are paramount important.
In fact, Hela should receive reasonable amount of attention from the Government because it contributes huge tax incomes from its natural resources like the PNG LNG Project to the national budget.

Michael Drake Kayape
Margarima, Hela