Papua New Guinea: The Health Sector Development Program Experience: Moving Toward a Sectorwide Approach (Adb Pacific Studies)

This report analyzes recent innovations brought to the health sector in Papua New Guinea by the Health Sector Development Program. Focusing on health service delivery, this program presented a fundamentally new approach to assistance in the health sector. Prepared and implemented in the context of the major Asian fiscal crisis in the mid-1990s, the Health Sector Development Program proved successful despite difficult circumstances. This work highlights lessons learned from that program, particularly the advantages of transparency and government reinforcement in low-income countries.

Maryse Dugue is a health project specialist. John Izard is a staff consultant at the Asian Development Bank.