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)