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Embracing technology to drive a more effective and efficient health system, Papua New Guinea launched a new digital strategy, information and communications technology policy, and digital health toolkit in June 2025. Health Minister Elias Kapavore led officials from the country¡¯s 22 Provincial Health Authorities at the event in Port Moresby which marks a significant move towards a modernized, connected, and fit for purpose health sector. 

¡°Now that we are going to digital health it is better because it will have an impact,¡± said Raymond Pomoni, District Health Manager in Wewak, East Sepik. ¡°It will give us timely feedback on what we are doing in the district, especially in terms of health service delivery.¡± 

The digital health toolkit was developed by the National Department of Health using insights gathered through the Papua New Guinea Health Sector Program of Advisory Services and Analytics (PASA) which is supported by Advance UHC. As the tools were developed, they were trialed in four pilot provinces¡ªCentral, Simbu, East Sepik, and East New Britain¡ªthrough the IMPACT Health Project, a US$30 million investment funded through the World Bank's International Development Association to improve the availability and utilization of essential primary health care services. The PASA and IMPACT Health have previously been integral to the development of tools for strengthening health governance and managing resources.  

The digital toolkit collects data and provides resources designed to help provincial and district level health staff do their jobs more efficiently and effectively, ultimately leading to more accessible and better-quality health services, particularly for people in rural and remote parts of the country. The tools are conveniently collected into a central dashboard which helps health workers with monitoring key health indicators, strengthening public financial management, auditing health facilities, implementing social and behavioural change communication programs, measuring the quality of health facilities, and managing pharmaceutical supplies.   

¡°It¡¯s user-friendly and very easy to navigate,¡± said Clare Tedor, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer with the East New Britain Provincial Health Authority. ¡°The dashboard is easy to understand at a glance and you can make informed decisions while you¡¯re looking at the data.¡±  

Dr Regina Poima Seki, Deputy Director Policy, Planning and Monitoring with the Western Highlands Provincial Health Authority agrees: ¡°With the dashboard everything is there, the data is already there in report form so it¡¯s easy and convenient for people back in the Provincial Health Authorities, not only for Western Highlands but for everyone at the ground level to use for decision making and monitoring their performance.¡± 

With positive feedback from the pilot provinces confirming the toolkit¡¯s utility, there are plans to scale up their use by all Provincial Health Authorities across the country, strengthening the Health Department¡¯s ability to monitor and manage the health system more effectively. The launch was also an opportunity to acknowledge the broad coalition of partners, including the World Health Organization, Australian government, UNICEF, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, New Zealand government, as well as church and civil society organizations, who have coalesced around Papua New Guinea¡¯s vision for a digitally empowered health system transformation.