DILI, 07 september 2023 (TATOLI) – On a mission to Timor-Leste this week, UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador and Portuguese television personality, Catarina Furtado visited the Gleno Maternity Center in Ermera municipality, where she raised the importance of good policy, commitment, and a serious investment of the government and development partners to combat maternal deaths in the country.
According to UNFPA, Timor-Leste has made great progress in improving maternal health, but over 50% of mothers in the island nation still deliver at home risking their lives and those of their babies.
UNFPA said that the lack of skilled birth attendants during pregnancy and childbirth is a big challenge in addressing Timor-Leste’s high maternal and infant mortality rates in the region – 195 per 100,000 live births maternal mortality ratio and 30 per 1,000 live births infant mortality rate.
“We have to change this number. It is possible to reduce this number. What needs to be done is goodwill, good policies, and collaboration between development partners,” Furtado told journalists in Gleno, Ermera.
She said that Timor-Leste is a small nation with beautiful people who deserve serious investment in maternal health: “We need a radical reduction in maternal mortality.”
Furtado stressed that in order to achieve the goal, Timor-Leste must make a serious investment by equipping its health centers with adequate equipment, medicines, and medical professionals: “Health professionals must have the qualifications to gain the trust of pregnant mothers to seek support for delivering their babies in health centers.”
The Portuguese television personality encouraged Timorese fathers to accompany their wives to seek support for childbirth at the nearest health centers.
After visiting the Gleno Maternity Centre, Furtado said that it is better to improve the conditions of the center to reduce maternal and newborn mortality in the municipality.
“UNFPA has created four Basic Emergency Obstetrics and Newborn Care (BEmONC) facilities in the country (Liquiçá, Viqueque, Manufahi, and Ataúro). It’s necessary to have 32 additional BEmONCs in the country to reduce maternal mortality,” she said.
The provision of quality Basic Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care (BEmONC) is very critical and the current and adequate recommended intervention to prevent maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality.
According to UNFPA around 6,000 mothers in Timor-Leste are estimated to have a high risk of developing life-threatening complications during pregnancy and childbirth, and will need access to quality emergency obstetric and newborn care services annually.
“Investing in maternal health is crucial for the country’s socio-economic development. It is essential to invest in maternal health in order to combat poverty,” added Furtado.
At the same place, a UNFPA representative in Timor-Leste, Pressia Arifin-Cabo, said it’s important for Timor-Leste to hire more midwives and doctors to help prevent mothers from dying during childbirth.
The day before Furtado visited the Gleno Health Centre, a mother died from excessive blood loss during labor in her village, as there were no midwives or doctors at the nearest health post to assist.
“A mother died yesterday. What happened was that she gave birth in Aitura village and started having complications. So she went to the health post in the village but there was no midwife. Then she died on the way to the Gleno Health Centre. The problem is that there are more than 300 midwives who don’t have jobs and more doctors who don’t have jobs. Why don’t we give them jobs to serve in these places to help mothers?” said Pressia.
She said Timor-Leste must increase the budget for maternal health and child health: “There’s a total of 63 million dollars allocated to the Ministry of Health, but less than US$200,000 allocated to maternal and child health. That’s why we have to start investing in quality doctors and quality infrastructure because that’s the only way we can save the lives of mothers and children and bring the mortality rate down from 195 to 70.”
In Timor-Leste, with the support of the Australian Government through the Partnership for Human Development (PHD), UNFPA has trained over 142 healthcare workers – mostly doctors and midwives – from hospitals and community health centers (CHCs) across the country.
UNFPA has also provided medical and non-medical equipment to hospitals and community health centers across the country to allow healthcare workers to apply their acquired knowledge and skills to contribute to our goal of zero preventable maternal deaths.
Furtado’s four-day visit to Timor-Leste is to advocate for sexual and reproductive health and rights, prevention, and response to gender-based violence.
Since being appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador in 2000, Catarina Furtado has traversed the world to visit UNFPA programs – highlighting the essential needs and rights of women and girls. This is her third visit to Timor-Leste and her second time as UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador.
“We are very pleased and honored to welcome Catarina Furtado here in Dili. She is a global champion of women and girls and a sexual and reproductive rights advocate. Her work has greatly impacted women and girls around the world,” said Pressia Arifin-Cabo, Country Representative for the UN Population Fund in Timor-Leste.
As a renowned TV personality and filmmaker in Portugal, Catarina uses her platforms to share stories about sexual and reproductive rights and prevention of gender-based violence (GBV) and other harmful practices focusing on women and girls, in Portugal and to global audiences.
She is well known for her television documentary series, Príncipes do Nada, which introduced audiences to issues ranging from maternal health to adolescent pregnancy. Through her charity organization, Corações Com Coroa, founded ten years ago, she advocates for the prevention of GBV and empowering women and girls in Portugal.
While in Timor-Leste, Catarina Furtado visited maternal health projects that were a result of a strong collaboration between the UN Population Fund and the Government of Timor-Leste.
She visited a Basic Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (BEmONC) center that is critical to end maternal and infant deaths in Timor-Leste, witness various efforts to raise awareness and prevent HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and the progress towards ending stigma and discrimination towards People Living With HIV in the country.
She also observed the strengthening of a multi-sectoral approach to the prevention of and response to gender-based violence (GBV).
Catarina Furtado’s visit aims to raise awareness of the urgency of preventing maternal deaths and gender-based violence in Timor-Leste and across the globe by 2030, in line with the UNFPA Transformative Agenda.
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges
