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¡°In terms of advancing universal health coverage, health financing is a very important factor,¡± said Martina Suve-Hohora, Acting Manager of Policy, Planning and Economics, Strategic Policy Division, with Papua New Guinea¡¯s National Department of Health. Martina was one of 150 delegates who explored the theme ¡°advancing universal health coverage in a post pandemic era¡± at the Asia Pacific Health Financing Forum held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, June 2024.

¡°Collaboration and partnerships are important. We need to work across sectors and with a diverse range of stakeholders to harness and coordinate all the resources we need to improve health services in Papua New Guinea,¡± said Martina.

The COVID-19 pandemic saw economies contract, government revenues decline, and public debt levels rise. Health service coverage rates stagnated and, in some countries, even declined. Countries are being confronted with the issue of sustaining the public spending on health that was increased during the pandemic to combat the COVID-19 virus and support the vaccine roll-out, which is still required to build back better and more resilient health systems. However, with the elevated public debts against declining revenues, governments and health ministries are needing to make tough decisions about how to best allocate their limited resources. The goal of the forum was to bring health and finance policymakers and practitioners together to discuss and exchange some of the most cost-effective, efficient, and innovative options for improving the availability and quality of health services in their respective countries.

¡°Financing for universal health coverage is very important. Particularly so we can reach people in rural areas,¡± said Eileen Gini, Acting First Assistant Secretary with the Budget Coordination and Analysis Division of Papua New Guinea¡¯s Department of Treasury. ¡°I am thankful and grateful for this opportunity to come here and get to know people from other countries and learn how they are financing their health sector as well as connecting with my colleague Martina from the National Department of Health. My hope is to continue working closely with her and her department in finding sustainable financing solutions for better health outcomes in PNG.¡±

On the forum¡¯s second day, Martina was a featured speaker in a panel discussion which looked at improving public financial management in the health sector.

¡°We are looking at strengthening our public financial management systems across the sector to improve efficiency and accountability of public spending,¡± Martina said. ¡°We have developed a public financial management manual, and we are just about to begin training our health managers in areas like planning, resource allocation, and accounting. Now, with assistance from the World Bank, we are working on strengthening how we formulate our health budget. Treasury keep asking us for better data and evidence to back up our budget proposals and we would like to be able to provide that.¡±

The Asia Pacific Health Financing Forum was co-hosted by the World Bank and the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents, and supported by the governments of Australia and Japan.