National Medicines Policy 2014.

The National Medicines Policy 2014 is an update of the first National Drug Policy 1998. This edition is in line with National Health Plan 2011 - 2020 and the National Health Services Standards with the overall objective for the improvement of the people’s health in Papua New Guinea. This policy provides a framework and direction for coordinating activities in the pharmaceutical sector in Papua New Guinea by stakeholders in the public and private sectors and other interested parties. It aims to make high-quality medicines consistently accessible and affordable for everyone, while ensuring their rational use.
The objectives of the policy are: (i) to ensure adequate and continuous availability of safe, effective and good quality medicines to the entire population at all times; (ii) to ensure that essential medicines are affordable to all those who need them; (iii) to ensure available medicines are safe, efficacious and of high quality; (iv) to promote rational prescribing and dispensing of medicines by health professionals and the appropriate use of medicines by the patients; (v) to develop and deploy human resources to support the successful and effective implementation of this policy and related legislation and regulations; (vi) to improve and strengthen management and delivery of Pharmaceutical Services through reforms, restructuring, streamlining, better role delineation, and partnership; and (vii) to monitor and evaluate regularly the performance and achievements of the policy by the National Department of Health.
This policy highlights the importance of adopting and promoting global measures to mitigate emergence of antimicrobial resistance to achieve favourable public health outcomes. Rational use of anti-microbials will be advocated through established Medicines Therapeutic Committees in all health facility levels. The National Department of Health will work with the Department of Agriculture and Livestock and the National Agriculture Quarantine and Inspection Authority and other relevant government agencies for the control of anti-microbial use in veterinary medicine and animal husbandry. Partnerships with relevant domestic and international laboratories for antimicrobial surveillance and sensitivity testing will be undertaken and strengthened.