A Snapshot of Health Equity in Papua New Guinea
This paper highlights challenges that the government of Papua New Guinea faces in delivering equitable health care. It analyses findings from the 2010 household survey, including sickness reporting, health service utilization and out of pocket expenditure, concluding that the poorest quintile is most vulnerable to illness, yet has the lowest utilization rates of healthcare facilities. The lack of healthcare workers and the distance to facilities are among the most dominant reasons cited for not utilizing healthcare facilities in the poorest quintile while out-of-pocket payments have minimal catastrophic impact, yet have still been found to be a barrier to utilization. The paper also sets out policy implications of these findings, including the need for the government to focus on, and prioritize, strengthening the health services delivery to achieve universal health coverage.
Summary: | This paper highlights challenges that
the government of Papua New Guinea faces in delivering
equitable health care. It analyses findings from the 2010
household survey, including sickness reporting, health
service utilization and out of pocket expenditure,
concluding that the poorest quintile is most vulnerable to
illness, yet has the lowest utilization rates of healthcare
facilities. The lack of healthcare workers and the distance
to facilities are among the most dominant reasons cited for
not utilizing healthcare facilities in the poorest quintile
while out-of-pocket payments have minimal catastrophic
impact, yet have still been found to be a barrier to
utilization. The paper also sets out policy implications of
these findings, including the need for the government to
focus on, and prioritize, strengthening the health services
delivery to achieve universal health coverage. |
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