In West Papua, HIV and social inequality go hand in hand, and COVID-19 has made things even worse, Jenny Munro, Els Rieke Tieneke Katmo, and Yustina Wambrauw write.

Overly politicised resource allocation in China’s healthcare reform process is leading provincial governments to spend excessively in some areas, yet fail to meet demand in others, Lei Yu and Xiao Tan write.

The economic benefits of mandated mask wearing in indoor public spaces are so large that they just might determine whether Australia avoids a recession or not, Quentin Grafton, Tom Kompas, and Hoang Long Chu write.

This week on Policy Forum Pod, Sharon Friel joins Arnagretta Hunter and Sharon Bessell to look at the health impacts of the cost of living crisis.

The Health Authority of Papua New Guinea’s most populous province has had to shutter its doors, whilst nearly one-third of Nauru’s population has been detected with COVID-19.

More than two years into the pandemic, COVID-19 has now been officially recorded in every Pacific Island country, and more countries are looking to re-open their international borders as vaccination rates edge higher.