Daru General Hospital

Australian High Commissioner, Jon Philp, joined Governor of Western Province the Taboi Abi Yoto, National Department of Health Deputy Secretary Ken Wai, along with local MPs and health officials to mark the start of the project, which will be delivered in partnership with Western Provincial Health Authority (WPHA) and the National Department of Health.

Australia has a long-standing and proud connection with the people and communities of Western Province, the largest and most remote Province in Papua New Guinea.

The 24-year-old radiographer travels around Daru Island in her bright red truck, featuring the slogan “Let’s kick TB out of PNG – Act now”, to conduct free chest screenings in the fight against tuberculosis (TB).

After graduating with a Bachelor of Medical Imaging Science degree in 2017, Mahabi joined the screening initiative this year following a residency at Port Moresby General Hospital and Daru General Hospital respectively.

The three-week old Nissan bus had its rear windshield smashed after the SOO match.

It is alleged that the bus was on a scheduled routine 11pm pick-up/drop-off run when the incident occurred along Cameron road. No passengers were hurt.

The culprit(s) who actually smashed the windshield could not be identified.

According to eyewitnesses, there was a group of people on the road when a huge rock was thrown at the bus, resulting in its current unfortunate state. 

In 2013 the Burnet Institute reported that the province was suffering from ‘one of the worst tuberculosis (TB) epidemics in the world’. The number of victims kept on climbing where, unfortuantely, those at the forefront of the battle also succumbed to the infectious disease, especially to the extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB).

The health workers at Daru hospital claim that the Government has ignored their plight for so long that they are taking another step further to ensure that history does not repeat itself.