Background: The unmet global burden of surgical disease is substantial. The Lancet Commission on Global Surgery (LCoGS) estimated that 5 billion people do not have access to safe, affordable and timely surgical care, with 80% of those without access living in lowand middle-income countries. The Milne Bay Province (pop 331 000) of Papua New Guinea, with an archipelago of islands up to 750 km from its capital, Alotau, has only one hospital capable of performing Caesarean Section, Emergency Laparotomy and managing an open fracture, the three Bellwether procedures. This paper aims to report the six Lancet Commission on Global Surgery metrics for Milne Bay Province. Methods: The study was conducted between January and August 2019. Bellwether access was investigated by a prospective study on 115 patients presenting to hospital. The surgical, anaesthesia and obstetric (SAO) workforce, surgical volume and perioperative mortality rate, were calculated for 2012-2018 from hospital records and operation registers. Financial risk metrics were calculated by surveying 50 patients at discharge from hospital. Results: Bellwether access: Only 27.8% (n = 32) of the study population (n = 115) experienced less than 2-hours second delay (journey time to hospital). The average SAO provider density was 1.8 per 100 000 population. There were 606 procedures performed per 100 000 with a mean annual perioperative mortality rate of 0.3%. Catastrophic expenditure is a risk for 29% of the population. Conclusion: Milne Bay Province can perform surgery safely, but there is limited access to timely surgical care when needed with a significant proportion put at financial risk by requiring it.

Summary Background Injuries are a significant public health concern globally. Papua New Guinea has failed to achieve all eight health millennium development goals, and in doing so has not prioritized injuries in previous health policies. Understanding costs related to injuries can ultimately guide policies for surgical service delivery in achieving local, and universal health coverage objectives. Methods A prospective cost of illness study was conducted at Alotau Provincial Hospital (only major referral hospital), in the Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea, from the 1st of June 2020 to the 21st of December 2020. A bottom up approach of micro costing was used to estimate the direct medical cost of trauma aetiologies, and injuries of patients admitted to the surgical ward at Alotau Provincial Hospital. Findings The mean cost of managing traumatic injuries was K45, 900.40 (US$13,311.12) per patient. The most common cause of injury was alcohol related injuries (n=32) with a total direct medical cost of K1, 417, 023.73 (US$410,936.88). The most common injury was fractures (n=40) with a total direct medical cost of K1, 907, 531.88 (US$553,184.25). The highest cost for trauma aetiologies were MVAs with a mean cost of K48, 687.40 (US$14, 119.35) per patient. The highest cost for injuries was abdominal trauma with a mean cost K55,929.69(US$16,219.61) per patient. Interpretation Poor regulation of alcohol and road safety is associated with high surgical costs. In an era of financial instability, reducing injuries is economical in acheiving health care objectives that rely heavily on adequate funding, and financing. Funding No funding source.