Essential services such as safe water supplies, sanitation, and electricity are far from comprehensive in the rapidly growing urban areas and have barely expanded in rural areas since independence. Roughly half of primary health services and of primary schooling are provided by church agencies, with some funding from the government.

In several provinces the coverage of primary schools and basic health services has declined since the mid-1980s, due to lack of staff and supplies, a trend exacerbated by the decline of the road network.

While Papua New Guinea’s per capita expenditure on health is relatively high for a developing country, it has not risen in proportion to the rapidly growing population. Provincial hospitals are under pressure, as are the general hospitals, few in number, that serve their neighbouring provinces. In Port Moresby private hospitals serve the elite. In the early 21st century the rate of HIV infection was the highest in the South Pacific and was increasing rapidly, especially in rural areas. 

Pneumonia, tuberculosis, gastrointestinal diseases, influenza, malaria, and HIV/AIDS were among the leading causes of mortality, especially for small children. Primary health care at the village level is inadequate, and maternal and infant mortality remain high by global and Pacific Islands standards. Immunization rates are low.

There is no social security system in Papua New Guinea; the nearest equivalent of welfare support that government typically provides in more-developed countries comes instead from the extended family and fellow villagers, known as wantok (Tok Pisin: “one talk” or “one language”). In acute emergencies such as severe droughts, cyclones, and floods, foreign aid has provided food supplies and logistics.