(AGENPARL) – METRO MANILA gio 27 aprile 2023 PORT MORESBY, PAPUA NEW GUINEA (27 April 2023) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the governments of Australia and Papua New Guinea (PNG) today at a special event acknowledged the results of a cofinanced project which improved the quality and coverage of rural health services in PNG. 

“The Rural Primary Health Services Delivery Project demonstrates the government’s strong commitment to improving rural health care and promoting universal health coverage in PNG,” said ADB Senior Health Specialist Inez Mikkelsen-Lopez. “The project prioritized access to health care for women and children given the major social and economic returns of these investments.”

The major achievements by the project supported by ADB, and the governments of Australia and PNG and OPEC include the construction of 38 new health facilities and the development of a national digital public health surveillance system collecting primary health care data across 840 health facilities. 

Beginning in 2012, the project focused on two districts in each of eight provinces— the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Eastern Highlands, East Sepik, Enga, Milne Bay, Morobe, Western Highlands, and West New Britain. It improved frontline services through health infrastructure and workforce development. It strengthened the capacity of provinces to plan, manage and report on health services and trained health workers on emergency and essential obstetrics care.

The establishment of multiple partnerships is another major achievement of the project. Links between the state and other health providers, such as the private sector, churches, nongovernment organizations, and civil society were formed. Health partnership committees were formed and services agreements in the eight provinces were adopted to help maintain the standards of primary rural health services.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.

Fonte/Source: https://www.adb.org/