Impact of out-of-pocket expenditures on families and barriers to use of maternal and child health services in Papua New Guinea : evidence from the Papua New Guinea household survey 1996 and household income and expenditure survey 2009–2010; country brief

Overall maternal and child health indicators are among the worst in the Asia-Pacific region, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic is one of the most serious. Two surveys allow for an exploration of how healthcare utilization has changed over a 13-year period. The poor should be in greater need of medical care, but in practice they make less use and suffer from greater barriers to access. Building community health posts with inpatient facilities for childbirth in rural areas would help to reduce physical access barriers to healthcare