Health Services Sector Development Program: Additional Financing Report

The Health Services Sector Development Program (HSSDP) ‘the program’ in Papua New Guinea (PNG) was approved by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on 30 May 2018 and combines a $100.0 million policy-based operation (subprogram 1) and a $95.0 million project investment to support whole-of-government and sector policy reforms with health sector investments. 

The original financing included upgrading eight rural health facilities, this is a small portion of the health infrastructure needs across the country, especially following the 2018 earthquake. Additional financing for the HSSDP project investment will be provided by the Government of Australia through a cofinancing grant from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) administered by ADB to expand the scope of the project investments increasing access to rural health services.

The HSSDP is aligned with government priorities where the government has identified both the provincial health authority rollout across all provinces as a key priority and identified 20 district hospitals for rehabilitation in the 2019 national budget. The investments proposed under the cofinancing grant are consistent with the project’s development objectives and the current ADB country partnership strategy. The proposed investments are essential to expanding improved service delivery and health outcomes in rural areas. The cofinancing grant will be completed within the project completion timeframe of 30 May 2025.

This document dated June 2019 is provided for the ADB project 51035-004 in Papua New Guinea.