Australia has hailed the opening of a tuberculosis hospital ward on the Papua New Guinean side of the shared international border as further evidence of the effectiveness of its aid program.
The 22 beds at Daru General Hospital just across the border from the Torres Strait was funded under a $33 million AusAid program in Western Province.
The World Health Organisation has praised AusAid's program in PNG's Western Province, but critics have questioned its success.
In April a Torres Strait islander died from multi-drug resistant TB, thought to have been contracted from a PNG source.
Australia's Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affair Matt Thistlethwaite spoke with Queensland correspondent Stefan Armbruster from Daru after opening the new ward.
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