Pacific Senior Health Officials Network

This section of the website contains information on the Pacific Senior Health Officials Network.

In this section:

The Pacific Senior Health Officials Network (PSHON) was established in 2004 to facilitate communication between senior health officials in the Pacific and Australia with the aim of supporting health systems governance and the development and implementation of sound and effective health policies in the Pacific region.

Ministries of Health from Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu are current members of the PSHON. A representative from the New Zealand Ministry of Health also participates in the annual PSHON meetings. The Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) provides Secretariat support to the PSHON and receives funding to support PSHON activities from AusAID’s Pacific Public Sector Linkages Program.

The annual PSHON meetings focus on senior level policy exchange and are hosted by a senior member of the DoHA Executive, with the CEO/Secretary and an emerging manager invited to attend from each Pacific Member country. A representative from the NZ Ministry of Health also participates.

The PSHON also promotes partnerships and technical exchanges between senior officials through the Policy Partnerships Initiative (PPI) and, previously, through the Middle Managers' Residential Module.

Policy Partnership Initiative (PPI)

The Policy Partnerships Initiative (PPI) is an initiative of the PSHON to enable members to establish policy partnerships with health officials from Australia and/or other Pacific countries. These partnerships support capacity development in Pacific Ministries in policy areas that have been identified as key priorities by the PSHON.

PPI projects that have been established to date, include:

Rheumatic Heart Disease: Samoa-Fiji-Tonga-Tuvalu-Kiribati-Nauru-Vanuatu-Australia (2011);
Rheumatic Heart Disease: Tonga–Fiji–Samoa–Tuvalu–Australia–New Zealand (2010);
Health Financing: Samoa–Australia (2009–2010);
Health Information Systems: Nauru–Australia (2009–2010);
Health Information Systems: Kiribati–Australia (2007–2008);
Health Library: Samoa–Tonga–Australia (2008-2010); and
Health Workforce Planning Tools: Tonga–Australia (2007–2009).

Top of page Updates on the first PPI activities undertaken are available via the links below.

PPI Update August 2008 (PDF 2649 KB)
PPI Update May 2008 (PDF 779 KB)
PPI Update January 2008 (PDF 33 KB)

Updates on PPI projects since 2009 are incorporated in the PSHON Newsletter.

Terms of Reference - Pacific Senior Health Officials Network

The Terms of Reference (TOR) for the Pacific Senior Health Officials Network are available via the link below.

PSHON Terms of Reference (PDF 24 KB)

Steering Committee

The PSHON Steering Committee was established in 2008 to assist in guiding the direction of the Network. The Steering Committee, comprising the Chair of the Network and three nominated Pacific representatives, meets at the beginning of each year to review the outcomes from the previous annual Network meeting, to discuss current activities and to provide input to the agenda for the following annual Network meeting. Membership of the Steering Committee is reviewed every two years. The current members of the Steering Committee are Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

The Terms of Reference (TOR) for the PSHON Steering Committee are available via the link below.

PSHON Steering Committee Terms of Reference (PDF 22 KB)

PSHON Newsletter

2011 Evaluation of the PSHON

An independent evaluation of the PSHON was undertaken in 2011. The purpose of the evaluation was to identify key strengths of the Network and areas for improvement, and to assess the effectiveness of PSHON activities in meeting anticipated outcomes of the program. Recommendations were also sought on ways to strengthen the Network’s effectiveness and sustainability.

Each of the eleven recommendations arising from the evaluation have been agreed, or agreed in-principle, by the PSHON members and Secretariat. Implementation of the recommendations is under way and the Secretariat and members are progressing this work. The final report of the 2011 Evaluation of the PSHON can be downloaded here (PDF 391 KB).

Members’ Area link

The members’ area is for members of the Pacific Seniors Health Officials Network. This area of the website includes resources for information sharing, including project reports, minutes and papers arising from each of the Network meetings, and contact details for members.

Further information

If you would like more information about the Pacific Senior Health Officials Network, including PSHON activities, please email the PSHON Secretariat at pshon@health.gov.au

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