If you’ve spent any time around our organisation, Maluk Timor, you’ll know that our tagline is ‘advancing quality healthcare together’. When it comes to achieving our mission of fighting preventable disease throughout Timor-Leste, the reality of ‘together’ is so critical to our ongoing work.
With a team and board spread across Timor and Australia and supporters who live around the world, the work of Maluk Timor is a global vision that’s executed every day by local communities – which is fitting, as Maluk Timor means ‘family of Timor’ in Tetun! Our team is on the ground training doctors and nurses in the 70+ healthcare centres which are effectively the first port of call for nearly 70% of the population that lives in the rural districts.
By working to empower local healthcare workers, we’re able to create genuine change in Timor-Leste, delivering healthcare that’s integral to the wellbeing, hope and future of families and communities.
Here’s how we empower healthcare workers through our comprehensive training programs.
Why are local healthcare workers so important in Timor-Leste?
Much of our work at Maluk Timor is focused on empowering local healthcare workers such as doctors and nurses through targeted and continuous training, equipping them to meet the wide range of needs of Timor-Leste’s regional and remote populations. This work strengthens the bridges of healthcare accessibility in the country as we continue to close gaps created by geographical distance through the delivery of these integral healthcare services. We’ve come a long way since 1999 when there were only 70 GPs in Timor Leste (and a single surgeon!) for the entire country – but we’ve still got a long way to go in delivering this healthcare to every corner of Timor-Leste.
Strengthening the healthcare workforce in Timor-Leste
Our commitment to strengthening Timor-Leste’s healthcare workforce takes many forms, including the provision of comprehensive training programs that are designed in collaboration with the Timor-Leste Ministry of Health to build the clinical skills of these key healthcare professionals. The support of other international partners has also helped us to equip healthcare workers to deliver high-quality care across Timor-Leste.
Our work here includes:
- Boosting digital literacy – this training helps healthcare workers to make the most of online resources and tools in their daily workflows, equipping them with digital literacy skills that are critical in modern healthcare practices. In 2023, we successfully trained another 20 clinicians in digital literacy.
- Developing the in-service primary care curriculum – in order to meet the diverse healthcare needs in Timor-Leste, we worked collaboratively to develop an eight-part curriculum that’s centred on primary care. This allowed us to deliver streamlined and consistent training and development in areas including emergency care, non-communicable diseases and other clinical competencies.
- Engaging local leaders – by working hard to build relationships with key local stakeholders, we’re able to ensure that our programs are not only relevant, but are tailored to the unique challenges each community may face across Timor-Leste.
- Upskilling our trainers – the need for enhanced clinical expertise is urgent and ongoing across Timor-Leste. We’re responding to this by upskilling our Health Professionals Development (HPD) team, ensuring our team can deliver high-quality training that effectively raises the standard of healthcare across the country.
- Assessing training needs – our collaborative working approach means we’re always listening to the genuine needs and feedback of local Timor-Leste communities and community healthcare workers. In 2023, we completed a comprehensive needs assessment across a number of health centres in order to identify their critical training needs. The data we received allowed us to tailor our programs to address the most pressing issues in healthcare delivery.
- Expanding our staff development – by focusing on ongoing professional growth, we’re able to continuously improve how healthcare is delivered throughout Timor-Leste. We continue to build the capacities of our staff through our CPD system, delivering 183 development sessions across the course of 2023.
Conclusion
Since Timor-Leste’s national health system was launched in 2015, we’ve partnered with the Timor-Leste government to improve the quality of health care for all of Timor-Leste’s citizens, no matter their location. We’ve trained over 180 doctors, 395 nurses, and allied healthcare professionals since 2019 alone. As 2025 approaches, we’re preparing for another year of working to change access to quality healthcare for the better for all of Timor-Leste. This integral work relies on the strength of the country’s community healthcare workers.
Even a small donation can go a long way to achieving this goal, with $24 covering the cost of petrol for an entire month of home visits for a healthcare worker. We invite you to be a part of changing the lives of everyday Timor-Leste families for the better through a small but crucial donation. With your help, we can ensure that Timor-Leste’s future is bright, full of hope, and built on a network of high-quality healthcare that’s accessible to all.