The Tuberculosis program is still in development, but will be ready to launch in February 2018.
Our organisation has a terrific history in the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis, the world’s number one infectious killer (and Timor-Leste sits number 1 in Asia, with the highest rates of TB).
This past couple of months has been all about building partnerships, and Maluk Timor now has clear opportunities to partner with the National TB Program (NTP), with Klibur Domin, and with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in improving the surveillance, diagnosis and cure of TB patients across the country.
In January we’ll be hiring an experienced team of health workers, well known to us from Bairo Pite Clinic, and shortly after we’ll be welcoming two new doctors from the UK to help lead the program. The team will initially focus on a close partnership with Klibur Domin – already a recognised partner in TB care – to support and expand their program into the districts.
Further partnerships with IOM and the NTP will involve our staff leading teams of health workers chasing down cases of TB wherever they can be found, and ensuring the wellbeing of the close contacts, especially the young children.
With ongoing specialist support from Australia and the UK, we see Maluk Timor’s expertise and influence becoming increasingly prominent in Timor-Leste’s battle to defeat TB, and know that many lives will be saved through this work.