PHA, a way forward for Northern

 PROVINCIAL Health Authority  (PHA)  system  is currently piloted in three provinces in PNG since its inception in 2007. 

The NEC approved PHA with an aim to overcome bottlenecks in the system but left this policy open for stakeholders and political will at provincial levels to drive it home. 

Our current health system  experiences  a high level of fragmentation that exists in the institutional and fiscal relationships between the national, provincial and local level governments. 

This is in itself a policy hindrance that results in unclear allocation of responsibilities for basic service delivery. 

It is therefore directly creating significant barriers to improving access to services and contributing directly to poor health outcomes. 

The government was blinded by ‘cure’ and had failed to optimise ‘prevention’ years ago, thereby, creating a marginalised resources  allocation  which continues today. 

After five health strategic plans since the first health reform in 1974, we now  have  the  sixth  one,  the ‘national  health  plan  2011-2020’. 

I resided in Oro for three parliamentary terms which qualifies me to be more objective about the issue. 

It is a letdown for the health in the province due to lack of political will and bureaucratic mismatches that have been going on unabated. 

Popondetta hospital is doing fine but what of aid posts and  rural  health under LLG and Oro provincial administration respectively? 

They  need critical evaluation and be pushed for one administrative and legal  framework  to create  a single channel for the appropriate flow of funds, subsequently, improving the deteriorating levels of service delivery.

Peter Maima 

Popondetta