What guarantee the 2011-20 NHP will work?

Firstly, it was a sad day to see our children expressing their dreams and hopes during the launch of the 2011-20 NHP because it did not fully address the problems we encountered in the current 2000-10 NHP.
It suffered from a lack of central co-ordination and control.
Previously, the Health Department was centralised before the introduction of provincial and local level government reform.
Many of the programmes and plans did not get adequate funding from either the provincial and local level government or the national government.
So what guarantee is there that the 2011-20 plan will work?
I anticipate the health secretary to blame the MPs instead of taking ownership of health issues as stated by Elizabeth Gumbaketi in a national paper prior to the launch of the NHP.
Secondly, the omission of curative health branch, which is the second core function of the department, and the low priority given to lifestyle-related diseases.
Lifestyle-related non-communicable diseases are killing some 20% of our working class population in urban areas.
This group of people is important to develop PNG. Sadly, PNG has not given this priority in the current NHP.
Thirdly, I call on Health Minister Sasa Zibe, who spoke against the parallel system, to critically look at the community health post concept.
This is a parallel system to our aid post and health centre system that need to be restored so that services are delivered.
Why develop a new concept when we should be developing the existing system?
What guarantee will this new concept bring results when we have failed to strengthen our aid posts and health centre system?
Fourthly, our medical supply system has suffered when we allow AusAID project, Pharmacy Upgrade Project to run an aid post kits project as a parallel system to our base medical supply system.
This NHP and the previous corporate plan was funded and supported by another AusAID project, namely CBSC and JTA consultants.
This plan will fail PNG as was with our base medical supply system.

Avisat Doctor
Port Moresby