DILI, 16 september 2021 (TATOLI)-Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and World Health Organization (WHO) in Timor-Leste is offered 500-bed sets to the Ministry of Health Timor-Leste on covid-19 response.
This support is provided following the request from the Covid-19 management crisis (CIGC).
The recent spike in COVID-19 has put healthcare infrastructure under undue stress as quarantine and isolation facilities report high occupancy rates.
Ermera is the first municipality to confirm the existence of the delta variant and requires immediate expansion of quarantine facilities. KOICA and WHO immediately procured 100 beds to help expand the quarantine.
In addition to 500 beds, KOICA and WHO also provided 500 pillows, sheets, and blankets for 500 beds, 400 bedside tables, and 100 medical beds, 50 of which were electronic and 50 manually operated.
The Director of Health Services at the Ministry of Health, Odete da Silva Viegas, said that this assistance had existed since TL faced various obstacles.
This assistance is very helpful for the Ministry of Health in providing services to the covid 19 patients and helping out the community from health recovery.
“KOICA and WHO is here to show a true sense of cooperation and solidarity. The fact that support based on needs in the field is the most important, we will distribute it to municipalities in need because Ermera has already sent 100 beds,” said Odete at the Ministry of Health office, Caicoli Dili.
In addition to beds and other material support, KOICA and WHO will also conduct training for health workers on the management of moderate and severe COVID-19 cases.
The training will be held in all referral hospitals in five cities. “The response to the COVID-19 pandemic must be multisectoral; one institution, government, organization alone cannot handle it. Moreover, a pandemic of this scale is unprecedented, and our response must be so too. Therefore, it is important that we all work together to overcome COVID-19,” explained KOICA Timor-Leste Country Director Representative, Cha Eunju.
In 2020, KOICA and WHO supports the Ministry of Health in monitoring & evaluating COVID-19 preparedness (M&E) in every Puskesmas.
“The ongoing partnership with KOICA that goes beyond neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) is timely and important in strengthening the multisectoral response to COVID-19.
I express my deepest gratitude to Ambassador HE and Country Director KOICA for their continued support,” said Arvind Mathur, WHO Representative for Timor-Leste.
Journalist: José Belarmino De Sá
Editor: Nelia Borges Rosario
