The Complete Guide to Using AI in the Healthcare Industry in Papua New Guinea in 2025

AI matters for Papua New Guinea because the country has moved from policy talk to practical tools: in June 2025 the government launched a national digital strategy, ICT policy and a user-friendly digital health toolkit designed to give provincial and district health staff timely, at-a-glance data - already trialed in Central, Simbu, East Sepik and East New Britain through the US$30 million IMPACT Health Project - so decisions on supplies, service delivery and outreach reach remote communities faster (World Bank Papua New Guinea digital health toolkit launch (IMPACT Health Project)).

Parallel capacity building - including PNG's AI collaboration with China and a High‑Level AI Strategy under the PNG Digital Government Act - points to AI-driven diagnostics and efficiency gains, while simple automations like clinic FAQ and appointment systems can immediately free staff time and reduce missed visits (PNG AI collaboration with China and Tsinghua workshop details, Clinic FAQ and appointment automation use cases for Papua New Guinea healthcare).

“Now that we are going to digital health it is better because it will have an impact.” - Raymond Pomoni, District Health Manager, Wewak

In Papua New Guinea today, AI is surfacing where data, images and simple automations meet everyday care: diagnostic imaging and radiology tools that speed reads and flag anomalies; AI‑assisted ultrasound that standardizes reports and trims scan times; EHR automations, appointment bots and clinic FAQs that free nurses from paperwork; and specialty screening like ophthalmic AI for early detection.

Radiology platforms such as Siemens' AI‑Rad Companion demonstrate how automatic post‑processing, cinematic 3D overviews and even color‑coded vertebral‑height and tumor‑volume metrics can turn stacks of scans into actionable summaries, while ultrasound AI - recently folded into RadNet's DeepHealth after the See‑Mode acquisition - has shown real-world workflow gains and faster reporting that PNG's new digital toolkit can learn from (Siemens AI‑Rad Companion imaging decision support platform, RadNet acquisition of See‑Mode/DeepHealth ultrasound AI press release).

For district clinics where staffing and connectivity vary, small wins like automated clinic FAQ and appointment systems offer immediate relief - reducing missed visits and reclaiming clinician time for patients (clinic FAQ and appointment automation for Papua New Guinea healthcare workflows).

The combined picture for PNG is pragmatic: high‑value imaging and screening tools for hospitals, plus lightweight automations at the primary‑care level, together create measurable capacity - imagine a radiology report that arrives with contours and measurements already drawn, letting clinicians act minutes sooner.

“Ultrasound is complex, time-consuming, and high-volume - exactly where AI can make a difference.” - Dr. Milad Mohammadzadeh, Co‑Founder of See‑Mode

Papua New Guinea's June 2025 launch of a national digital strategy, ICT policy and a user-focused digital health toolkit signals a practical shift from plans to tools that provincial and district teams can use every day: Health Minister Elias Kapavore led officials from all 22 Provincial Health Authorities in Port Moresby to unveil a real‑time monitoring dashboard, stronger supply‑chain tracking and a suite of simple resources trialed in Central, Simbu, East Sepik and East New Britain through the US$30 million IMPACT Health Project - work coordinated with PASA and Advance UHC to strengthen governance, auditing and pharmaceutical management World Bank briefing: Papua New Guinea digital health toolkit and IMPACT Health Project.

Pilots returned clear, practical praise:

“user‑friendly and very easy to navigate”

Partners from WHO, ADB, DFAT, UNICEF, Gavi, Australia and New Zealand are lined up to scale the tools so a clinic nurse in a remote community can literally glance at a dashboard and see stock levels, service delivery gaps and routine reports without wading through paperwork Post‑Courier article: PNG digital strategy and health monitoring dashboard, Clinic automation examples: FAQ and appointment automation use cases for PNG healthcare.

“Today, we are launching a real-time monitoring dashboard to track service delivery. This tool will improve transparency, standardise operations, and ultimately enhance health outcomes across our provinces.” - Elias Kapavore, Health Minister

Practical AI use cases for Papua New Guinea's health system blend high‑impact clinical tools with lightweight workflow automations: hospital-grade sepsis early‑warning algorithms can flag deterioration hours before ICU transfer and help avoid costly admissions (sepsis early‑warning algorithms for hospitals in Papua New Guinea), while simple clinic FAQ and appointment automation reduces missed visits and frees nurses for bedside care (clinic FAQ and appointment automation for Papua New Guinea clinics).

Imaging and ultrasound AI speed reads and standardize reports for provincial hospitals, EHR automation and NLP trim clerical load and open paths into data governance, and system‑level tools - GIS, surveillance, forecasting and policy simulation - help planners target supplies and outreach more precisely, as shown in a recent scoping review of AI in health policy (scoping review of AI for health policy and decision support).

The combined approach is pragmatic: advanced diagnostics where clinical capacity demands it, and simple automations where connectivity and staff time are scarce - picture a district nurse glancing at a dashboard to see a sepsis alert and a stock‑out warning, enabling action before a crisis unfolds.

AI can bring efficiency, but in Papua New Guinea the risks are concrete: weak oversight and cross‑border data flows can turn well‑intentioned tools into sources of surveillance, supply‑chain exposure and privacy harms - think of the Clearview AI scandal, where scraped facial images fed a searchable global database, a cautionary tale for Pacific Island countries with fragile rules (NetMission analysis: data sovereignty lessons from Clearview AI for Pacific Island countries).

National progress matters: PNG's new national data protection and governance policy (completed in 2024 and moving through endorsement) begins to close gaps, but implementation and enforcement are the hard part - without them, patient records, geolocation tags and even de‑identified datasets can be re‑identified or siphoned offshore (BiometricUpdate report: Papua New Guinea national data protection and governance policy).

Technical issues - poor data quality, interoperability and cyber vulnerabilities - compound legal and ethical concerns; as privacy experts warn, de‑identified health data used for AI still raises serious compliance and security questions in healthcare settings (BankInfoSecurity interview: privacy and de‑identified health data risks in AI healthcare).

The bottom line: without strong governance, secure infrastructure and clear liability rules, AI can amplify inequities - so leaders must treat data sovereignty and cybersecurity as first‑order health interventions.

“Without proper data policy and regulations, data breaches, privacy violations, and misuse of data pose significant risks to individuals, businesses, and national security.” - Timothy Masiu, Minister for Information and Communication Technology

By 2030 AI will reshape Papua New Guinea's health system in three tightly linked ways: first, data‑driven management - countrywide use of the national digital health toolkit will put real‑time dashboards and supply‑chain alerts in the hands of provincial and district teams so managers can spot stock‑outs or service gaps at a glance (national digital health toolkit and dashboard); second, faster, more reliable clinical care - hospital and imaging AI plus targeted algorithms such as sepsis early‑warning systems will flag deterioration earlier, trimming avoidable ICU stays and speeding treatment decisions (sepsis early‑warning algorithms for hospitals); and third, routine work reclaimed for patients - EHR automation, clinic FAQ and appointment bots will reduce paperwork and missed visits, while international capacity building (including PNG's AI collaboration with China) helps grow local skills and tailored solutions (PNG AI collaboration with China and Tsinghua workshop).

Picture a district nurse in a coastal clinic seeing a color‑coded sepsis alert and a stock‑out warning on a single screen - action becomes timely, not after the fact - turning incremental tech into measurable lives saved.

“Now that we are going to digital health it is better because it will have an impact.” - Raymond Pomoni, District Health Manager, Wewak

Global forecasts for AI in healthcare diverge sharply - many market studies centre on a multi‑hundred‑billion dollar opportunity by 2030 - for example Grand View Research 2030 AI in Healthcare Market Forecast estimates roughly USD 187.7 billion by 2030 while other analyses range lower (≈USD 164B) or much higher (Strategy&'s US$868B scenario), underscoring both rapid growth and varying methodologies.

For Papua New Guinea, the headline numbers matter less than what they signal: a large, global market encourages more off‑the‑shelf imaging, screening and workflow tools - from ultrasound and radiology assistants to sepsis early‑warning systems and simple clinic FAQ/appointment bots - that provinces can plug into the new national digital toolkit at lower marginal cost (Sepsis Early‑Warning Algorithms for Hospitals in PNG, Clinic FAQ and Appointment Automation for PNG Healthcare).

The practical takeaway for PNG leaders: prepare procurement, data governance and integration now so provincial nurses see actionable, annotated reports and supply alerts on a single screen - turning global market momentum into on‑the‑ground time saved and lives reached sooner.

Start small, govern big: the practical roadmap for PNG begins immediately with foundations already in sight - finalise the National AI Adoption Framework, prioritise Digital ID investment (SevisPass) as the single‑sign‑on bridge to health services, and lock down data governance, cloud and cybersecurity policies so provincial teams can safely use new tools; these steps build on the Government Cloud Policy and Data Governance and Protection Policy that already exist and the Department's AI work with Tsinghua (PNG AI collaboration with China and Tsinghua workshop on AI in Papua New Guinea).

In months 6–18 run tight, measurable pilots that match tech to context: lightweight clinic automations (FAQ and appointment bots) and hospital pilots of imaging or sepsis early‑warning algorithms to prove workflow gains while documenting outcomes (Sepsis early-warning algorithms in PNG hospitals).

From 18–36+ months scale what works through the national digital health toolkit, strengthen procurement and supplier contracts to address IP and supply‑chain liability, and embed AI risk management and incident reporting aligned with emerging regulation (note how international rules like the EU's AIA are already defining high‑risk obligations and transparency benchmarks - useful comparators for PNG policy design) (AI regulatory guidance on risk, governance, and compliance (EU AIA comparators)).

Throughout, pair technical pilots with workforce training and clear legal agreements so a district nurse logging into SevisPass can act on a colour‑coded sepsis alert and a stock‑out warning - timely action enabled by policy, not undermined by it.

“SevisPass will serve as a Digital Public Infrastructure, enabling secure authentication across banking, telecommunications, and government systems.” - Hon. Timothy Masiu, Minister for Information and Communications Technology

Building an AI-ready health workforce in Papua New Guinea means more than new software - it requires hands-on data skills, mapped career paths and training that bridges clinical care and data science.

PNG's adoption of the WHO Data Management Competency Framework for Papua New Guinea and the Provincial Health Authority Monitoring & Evaluation toolkit creates a practical baseline for upskilling nurses, clinicians and M&E officers to manage, analyse and assure data quality (UTS strengthening health workforce education in Papua New Guinea), while university and partner programs focused on strengthening nursing and community health worker education aim to lift graduate capability and clinical readiness (Chatbots in healthcare improving efficiency in Papua New Guinea).

Practical, low‑barrier tools such as chatbots can immediately reduce clerical load, support onboarding and put routine guidance in the palm of an overstretched clinician - critical in a system with roughly one doctor per 17,000 people - freeing time for higher‑value tasks.

The clearest pathway to impact pairs short, assessed courses in data literacy and AI‑tool use with accredited career ladders so a provincial nurse can move from data entry to roles in digital health operations, analytics or clinical informatics - turning curiosity into careers that keep talent in-country rather than out of the system.

Next steps for PNG health leaders are practical and urgent: lock governance around the NMCA's data‑driven mandate, finish the DPI/SevisPass rollout so clinicians have a secure single sign‑on to dashboards, and run tightly scoped pilots that prove value - think sepsis alerts and clinic appointment bots that turn dashboards into lifelines for remote clinics.

Use international partnerships and capacity building from the Tsinghua workshop as a fast track for technical transfer, but pair those partnerships with clear procurement, data‑sovereignty rules and incident reporting so patient records and models stay under PNG control (PNG–Tsinghua AI collaboration and workshop details).

Anchor short pilots in the NMCA's accountability framework and the DPI policy, then scale what works while investing in workforce training so nurses and M&E officers move from data entry to decision roles - one practical option is a focused, workplace‑ready course like Nucamp's AI Essentials for Work (15 weeks; early bird US$3,582) to build prompt‑writing and tool‑use skills across health teams (AI Essentials for Work syllabus (Nucamp)).

Finish the digital ID consultations, secure procurement terms, and publish GenAI usage rules now so AI increases timely care rather than legal or privacy risks; with these moves PNG can turn national dashboards and algorithmic alerts into measurable improvements at the district level (SevisPass DPI policy and timetable (BiometricUpdate)).

“Artificial Intelligence will become our compass.” - Hon. Peter Tsiamalili Jnr, Minister for Police and Acting Minister for Information and Communications Technology