Helping Timor-Leste beat its largest health problems

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We focus on local capacity building, systems strengthening, training and support to provide a sustainable pathway to tackle 8 key health problems facing Timor-Leste today…

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School children affected by this entirely preventable disease

Learn how we are tackling rheumatic heart disease

1. Finding, treating and preventing Rheumatic Heart Disease

Demonstrated in 2016 to have one of the highest rates of RHD in the world, with as many as 1 child in every classroom affected in some groups, this preventable disease continues to kill children, young adults and especially pregnant mothers. We are leading the way in screening for affected school children, ensuring they receive lifesaving penicillin treatment or surgery, as well as educating communities about the prevention of rheumatic heart disease.

2. Stopping the household spread of Tuberculosis

Timor-Leste has one of the highest rates of tuberculosis in Asia, with half of all active cases remaining undiagnosed. Young children often become infected in infancy, often with fatal consequences.

Our experienced team TB Timorese health care workers are supporting the MoH and NGO partners in delivering quality TB care. This includes pioneering work in expanding household contact tracing of positive cases and commencing exposed children on preventative treatment.

%

Of the country has latent TB

Learn More About how we are tackling TB

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Increase in HIV cases year on year

Learn More About how we are tackling HIV

3. Managing the HIV and AIDS epidemic

 Increasing numbers of cases of HIV infection are being identified in  Timor-Leste each week. The country is unprepared for this evolving epidemic. A new centre of excellence in partnership with MoH and the National AIDS Program is being built at Vera Cruz CHC, which will become the key training site for Timorese Doctors and counsellors in HIV care.

4. Building strong women for a strong nation

In a country with high levels of domestic violence, unplanned pregnancy and gender inequality, many Timorese women are trapped in disadvantage, often having seven or more children without the means to raise them. Other than the social difficulties this involves, it is driving many of the major health problems of the nation. Working with the Humanitarian Aid & Relief Trust, we will expand our outreach program to the districts, forming new womens groups to educate and empower Timorese women on maternal health, gender-based violence and crisis care support.

%

of women with partners aged 15-49 have experience physical or sexual violence in their relationships

Learn More About how we are empowering women

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Children stunded in growth and development

Learn more about malnutrition in Timor-Leste

5. Reducing Malnutrition by catching them before they fall

Timor- Leste has one of the highest malnutrition rates in the world with thousands of children dying each year, and 58% of children stunted in their growth and development, with lifelong consequences.
We are working with government clinics to identify malnutrition before it becomes life-threatening and supporting them in education, counselling and re-feeding.

6. Dental health for the next generation

Our dental nurses, supervised and trained by international dentists, will be providing dental care and taking their messages about oral health into the schools and wider community.
Learn about plans for dental health

dentists for all of Timor-Leste, thats less than one for every 180,000 people

7. Training Timorese Doctors

Close to one thousand junior Timorese doctors have been educated in classrooms but have almost no opportunities in further clinical training. An undertrained doctor can lead to a wrong diagnosis, a wrong treatment, and a fatal outcome.
In partnership with the Royal Australian College of Surgeons, we are delivering the only accredited training for General Practice in Timor-Leste. We hope to expand this program and involve all training doctors in the clinical programs led by Maluk Timor.
Learn about our doctor training

8. Training Timorese nurses and midwives

Saving lives… In Timor-Leste, countess lives are lost because of a lack of basic health care. Mothers die in childbirth, children die of diarrhoea, and adults die of treatable conditions. Nurses and midwives are the frontline in primary health care. 

A skilled nurse recognises a critically ill patient, and assists the doctor in providing lifesaving care, before it’s too late.  A skilled midwife recognises threats to the mother or baby before they become life threatening, and knows how to save both their lives in an emergency. 

Our team works alongside Timorese nurses and midwives, building their skill and confidence, saving lives through the provision of quality frontline care. 

Learn about our nurse training

Maluk Timor works shoulder to shoulder with Timorese clinicians to save lives and strengthen local health services.

The Maluk Timor team recognised that front-line medical care was no longer the best way we could help Timor develop a top quality health care system. 

Our commitment:

  • Investing in people

  • Strengthening health services

  • Engaging the community

Timor-Leste is a young nation with a traumatic past. The wounds are healing, and we hold great hope for the future, but this is still a place where children die for lack of food, and where diseases that we’ve all but forgotten still run rampant.
The Timorese health system is growing fast but developing a quality health service requires time, expertise and unwavering commitment. Maluk Timor has been invited to bring that expertise and commitment into partnership with the Timorese Ministry of Health and other NGO partners to help this nation meet its greatest health challenges.

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