By Eric Haurupma, EMTV – Port Moresby
The National Department of Health is discussing avenues on how the 2012 National Health Accounts will financially deal with the implementation of health services in the country.
This document emphasises the department’s budget spending on core areas in the health sector.
Participating in this event are health officials and developing partners and agencies.
Participants from the Department Health and developing partners like Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs, and Trade and World Health Organisation, in their second meeting reexamined the National Health Accounts.
This document is a comprehensive snapshot of the financial resource flows of the country’s health sector.
It is produced based on the System of Accounts called SHA 2011 developed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development called Eurostat and World Health Organization.
Deputy Secretary National Health Policy and Corporation Services, Elva Lionel, said it is useful because it will track the department’s spending over a period of time.
Most importantly it will integrate the collection, processing and analysis of both primary and secondary sources of health expenditures data.
Papua New Guinea’s current health expenditure stands at K1.2 billion which mainly go towards financing health care system and administration with a cost of over K400 million.
This document will also assist policy makers, planners, program managers and other stakeholders to make informed decisions to budget its spending only on core areas to deliver health services effectively.
The NHA was established in 2000 but has undergone slow progress due to inadequate institutional capacity and lack of cooporation.
