PNG Lawmakers to Reopen Medicine Procurement Inquiry on November 16

Papua New Guinea's parliamentary Public Accounts Committee plans to begin inspections of provincial health authorities and hospitals on November 16 as part of a renewed inquiry into medicine procurement, distribution and health-sector spending, according to its chairman, Freddie Kumai.

Kumai told local newspaper The National on October 27 that the committee would revisit 15 recommendations arising from a 2020 inquiry. He said parliamentary hearings were planned for early 2027, after the inspection phase. The new inquiry is intended to test implementation, not to presume that earlier weaknesses remain unchanged or that any particular official committed a crime.

The committee's planned review spans a proposed National Pharmaceutical Authority, medicines testing and licensing, centralised distribution, inventory and stock monitoring, medical warehouses, pricing and the government procurement of medicines. It also plans to examine public funding for the health sector from 2020 through 2026, Kumai said.

The follow-up comes against substantial budget commitments. In a December 1, 2025 statement on the 2026 national budget, the Department of Prime Minister and National Executive Council said health funding was rising to approximately K3.205 billion, a 15.8% increase. It identified an increase in medical-supplies funding from K240 million to K267 million and higher allocations to provincial health authorities and church health services.

Those figures are government budget allocations, not independently verified spending or proof of medicines delivered. They provide a financial benchmark against which the committee can ask what was actually disbursed, procured and received.

The 2020 parliamentary inquiry had raised concerns about the management of medicines and health services. The new committee review is expected to compare those earlier recommendations with implementation records and present-day conditions. It will need original purchase orders, delivery logs, stock records, procurement decisions and responses from health agencies to establish whether reforms worked.

Kumai said the purpose was to establish facts and measure progress rather than target individuals. The planned November 16 inspections and later hearings remain future steps; TFNOS has not verified that they have occurred or that the committee has reached new findings. Subsequent reporting should track the inspection schedule, the committee's published evidence, agency replies and any formal decisions, without converting earlier criticism into an allegation of criminal guilt.