The Guardian Features Timor-Leste’s Community Health Efforts
The government of Timor-Leste is striving to involve communities in planning for and using health services, reports the UK's Guardian newspaper.
Facing a health worker shortage and cultural and geographic barriers that prevent people from visiting health facilities, the Ministry of Health developed a program of integrated community health services, or "SISCa" in the local Tetum language. Each of Timor's 442 villages should have a monthly SISCa health event, which brings health workers and the community together.
We have been working with the Ministry of Health to support these monthly events, as the article describes:
"With three-quarters of Timor-Leste's people living in rural areas, access to healthcare is one of the country's biggest problems, said Health Alliance International's Paul Vasconcelos, who works with the health ministry as a regional SISCa coordinator.
"'The motto of SISCa is from the community, with the community, to the community. SISCa is yours, it belongs to you, so they organise it, the people will do everything. The health staff give assistance, but the community organises everything in the village levels,' he said.
"'In some villages it's very active. Village leaders know what's happening,' Vasconcelos said."
Read the full article here, or read more about our project to support the SISCa program.
Photo: Beawiharta/Reuters
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