The National Capital District Provincial Health Authority (NCDPHA) has submitted its 2027 Annual Budget Submission to the Department of Treasury, with copies to other relevant State agencies.
The submission is built around the growing health needs of more than 845,000 people in the National Capital District and the Motu Koitabu areas, as well as the many patients who present at our facilities from neighbouring Central and Gulf Provinces. NCD remains the most densely populated province in the country, and our health services must grow with it.
The 2027 budget captures the cost of running and expanding round-the-clock care across the city. It will fund 24-hour operations at the Metoreia Urban Health Centre, including birthing services, and at the Six Mile Polyclinic, which is already relieving pressure on Port Moresby General Hospital by managing Category 3 and 4 cases. It also provides for the expansion of 24-hour services at Morata Clinic, Gordons Clinic, Tokarara Clinic and Lawes Road Clinic, the operationalisation and commencement of service delivery at the new Port Moresby South District Hospital, the Gerehu Provincial Hospital extension for birthing and surgical services and Emergency Department upgrade, and the new 20-bed TB ward at Six Mile.
NCDPHA has operated under inadequate funding, with appropriations over the past four years averaging only 40 to 60 per cent of assessed requirements. That shortfall has constrained service delivery at a time when patient volumes and service points have both increased. The 2027 estimates have been prepared through a rigorous, costed review of every division of the Authority and represent the real cost of delivering health services in the nation’s capital.
“This is a realistic and fully justified submission. Every kina requested is tied to a service our people are already using or are about to receive,” said Dr Robin Oge, Chief Executive Officer of the NCD Provincial Health Authority. “We have opened new facilities and extended clinics to 24 hours because that is what the population of this city needs. We are now asking the National Government to fund those services properly so that they are safe, sustainable and staffed.”
The submission has been endorsed by the NCDPHA Senior Executive Management and approved by the Board of Governance. It is aligned to the National Health Plan 2021–2030, the National Health Service Standards, the Medium-Term Development Plan IV and Vision 2050.
NCDPHA thanks the National Government, the National Capital District Commission and its development and church health partners for their continued support, and looks forward to a positive outcome from the Budget Screening Committee.
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