DILI, 03 september 2021 (TATOLI) – Centro Nacional Chega (CNC) and the Ministry of Health (MoH) are committed to ensuring the most vulnerable survivors of the war and conflicts have access to adequate and essential medical care.
To realize the initiative, today, the Executive Director of CNC, Hugo Fernandes, and the Ministry of Health, Odete Maria Freitas Belo sign a three-year agreement (MoU) at the office of CNC, in Dili.
“Both parties will work together to facilitate the survivors to have access to appropriate medical treatment on mental health issues and physical health problems. This work will cover all survivors across the country, starting from national to the local level,” Fernandes told reporters after signing the MoU at the CNC office, in Dili, today.
He said providing adequate medical care to the survivors is part of the recommendations of the Chega Report: “MoH was assigned the responsibility to implement this specific recommendation.”
“According to the specific recommendations of the Chega Report, MoH was assigned a responsibility to assist the most vulnerable survivors, who are currently having issues with their health condition. We know that during the war and conflict, many of our fellow Timorese had gone through a lot of sufferings and today they deserve better medical treatment,” said Fernandes.
“CNC will make the data of the survivors of war and conflict available to all health care centers across the country. So that, our healthcare workers will know and attend these fellow Timorese survivors,” said Fernandes.
In addition, Fernandes said CNC and MoH will construct a Mental Health Rehabilitation Center to assist those survivors who are still living with trauma and other psychological problems, as a result of war and conflict in the past.
He said around 2000 survivors of war who suffered a long-term impact of conflict had been registered at the CNC: “These survivors would be divided into three groups – survivors with mental health problems, survivors with physical health issues and survivors who require financial assistance from the Ministry of Social and Solidarity (MSSI) to sustain their daily lives.”
“Apart from MoH, CNC had established cooperation with the local NGO PRADET to assist those survivors who are currently experiencing mental illness. So far, we have 26 survivors were currently undergoing treatment at PRADET,” added Fernandes.
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges Rosario
