Our recent research examined the link between delayed budget release and execution, healthcare delivery and medicine availability in Manus province. The study drew on a structured survey conducted from August to December 2025 in Manus province. Asked whether delays in government funding contributed to shortages, a majority (53%) named delayed funding as a major cause, and many others as one of several. That finding shifts attention from the size of the health budget to the reliability and timing with which it is executed. For patients, the test of the health budget is not whether funding appears in a budget document.