Health system on 'the brink of collapse' in East Timor

Health system on 'the brink of collapse' in East Timor

JAKARTA (JP): The health system in East Timor is at risk of
collapse if the exodus of doctors from the province is not
stemmed and replacement doctors provided, AusAID warned.

A team from the Australian Agency for International
Development (AusAID), which was in the former Portuguese colony
from March 10 to March 20, said in their report issued on
Thursday that with only 81 doctors remaining in the province, the
health system's capacity to address medical needs was an imminent
concern.

"Without a strategy to replace departing doctors, the health
system in East Timor could deteriorate significantly," the report
said.

The team investigated press reports that between 50 and 100
people in the province were dying each day from curable diseases.

Many doctors and paramedics have fled the province in the wake
of tension over the government's announcement it will allow East
Timor to declare independence if the government's proposal of
wide-ranging autonomy is rejected.

Minister of Health Faried Anfasa Moeloek said earlier this
month he was not considering sending replacement doctors to East
Timor. He asked the Armed Forces instead to dispatch military
doctors to fill the gap in the medical system.

AusAID also found during its mission there had not been a
surgeon in East Timor for nearly one year.

Doctors indicated there was a general preference among non-
East Timorese doctors to be transferred once their contracts
expired, the report said, adding there was no guarantee native
East Timorese doctors would return to the province.

AusAID also reported rural health centers in the province were
not well equipped with physical or human resources.

The team recommended the Australian government provide A$2
million (US$1.6 million) in humanitarian assistance to East
Timor.

Meanwhile on the second day of their mission in the East Timor
capital of Dili, two of a six-member United Nations team met
leaders the pro-integration groups Mahidi and Aitarak.

Eurico Gueterres of Aitarak told UN members Francesc Vendrell
and Samual Tamrat that "there will be a bloodshed if the pro-
independence parties win the direct ballot."

Other members continued to check on logistics such as those
related to telecommunications, rice warehouses and the health
system ahead of the direct ballot, slated in July, to determine
whether East Timorese want independence from Indonesia.

The UN members also met Nobel laureate and Dili Bishop Carlos
Filipe Ximenes and Baucau Bishop Basilio do Nascimento.

Belo told the UN envoys a UN-supervised disarmament of all
conflicting parties in the province should be a precondition for
the direct ballot scheduled for July. The ballot will gauge the
opinion of East Timorese on autonomy or independence.

"A peaceful settlement cannot be pursued through violence and
show of force, but dialog. In such a peaceful atmosphere, people
can determine their future," Belo told Antara.

The UN team asked Belo and Basilio do Nascimento to initiate a
reconciliation to restore peace and stability to the province.

Belo said he and Nascimento planned a second meeting with
proindependence and pro-autonomy groups early next month.

The first meeting in September last year resulted in the
issuance of a joint statement by the conflicting parties
promising to foster peace and welfare for all East Timorese.
(43/amd)