DILI, 07 april 2023 (TATOLI) – Timorese Prime Minister, Taur Matan Ruak praise and thank the World Health Organization (WHO) Timor-Leste, led by Representative Arvind Mathur, for its commitment to support improving the quality of health service to ensure health for all Timorese people.
“Let me take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank the WHO for their continued support to Timor-Leste in strengthening our health system, including during our fight against Covid-19,” Ruak said in his remarks on the World Health Day celebration, in Dili.
Ruak stressed that the right to health is a basic human right: “By investing in health, we are investing in a prosperous society where every Timorese can perform to their potential.”
“Your dedicated service to public health across the globe has made a tremendous impact on improving the health and well-being of people everywhere,” he said,
The Head of the Government raises the importance of working together between the Government of Timor-Leste and WHO to achieve the goal of ensuring the quality of health service to all people.
“Let us continue to work together to achieve health for all, which is also the theme for this year’s World Health Day. To achieve this, WHO TL has been by our side in building the skills of our health workers, upgrading healthcare infrastructure in our hospitals, and helping us draft our comprehensive, people center policies, backed with science, technology, and innovation. Health for all will be possible if continue to progress in this direction. Ruak explained.
He is confident that WHO TL will continue to be Timor-Leste’s trusted partner for the years to come: “Together, we will realize this dream of health for all.”
“On behalf of the government of Timor-Leste, I want to wish WHO a happy 75th anniversary,” Ruak concluded.
With the support of the WHO, Timor-Leste has produced nearly 1,000 doctors in less than 15 years and also an overall increase in the health workforce, which is key to boosting the quality of health services in the country.
“I would like to use this important day to remind and reiterate to the Government and the people of Timor-Leste, that like before, WHO stands committed to supporting and working alongside the government to ensure the best possible health for all people,” Mathur said. “WHO – as a trusted, credible, and reliable friend – stands closely and resolutely with the Ministry, the government, and the people of Timor-Leste to face the challenges of the future and work with science, solutions, and solidarity.”
To ensure “Health for All” in Timor-Leste, WHO and the Ministry of Health collaborated to co-produce the Essential Services Package for primary, secondary, and tertiary care, co-build critical care and emergency services in all national and referral hospitals, established cervical cancer screening and treatment centers against one of the most common cancers in women, provided technical and logistical support to keep the Prime Minister’s commitment to “end tuberculosis by 2025”, established more “stop smoking” clinics, and opened outdoor gyms and treatment services to ensure fewer people die from NCDs.
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges
