The Vice Minister of Health, Ana Isabel Soares, launched this year’s Hakbi’it Programme, in Covalima, on June 7th. This technical assistance programme from the Ministry of Health is backed by the Government of the United States of America, through the United States Agency for International Development – USAID. The objective of this programme is to train health professionals who are organising basic work, particularly in management.
In her speech, the Vice Minister recalled that the United States’ support to this programme is already going into its fourth edition.
The project was carried out by the John Snow, Inc. (JSI) institute together with the Research and Training Institute, and aims to improve the quality of services and the use of the health programmes, namely to newborns, children, adolescents and family planning.
This project focused on technical assistance at the national level, with the collaboration of the Ministry of Health, the National Institute of Health of Covalima, of Health Services in the Municipality, mainly the Reference Hospital, the primary health care services of the Health Centres, and of the Community leaders.
The Vice Minister said: “We have various national policies, but our ability to execute is not strong, representing, therefore, a great challenge for us. Thus, the Ministry of Health decided to continue to work together with the United States of America, through the JSI programme, to improve the knowledge of our health professionals, in particular in the management area.”
She went on to ask these officials of the Municipality of Covalima, from the health delegation, the Reference Hospital and the health centres, to provide support, in order to improve the level of knowledge.
Meanwhile, the Ambassador of the United States of America, Karen Staton, emphasized that her Government is proud to be a partner with the Government of Timor-Leste. It has continuously supported the infant mortality reduction programmes since the independence.
The Hakbi’it programme is a collaboration between the Ministry of Health, the National Institute of Health, USAID and JSI. This team has been working for a decade to improve the health of families, in particular the health of mothers and newborns, children and young people.
According to the Ambassador, the Ministry of Health has made great progress in its area of intervention, regarding Goal 4 of the Millennium Development Goals [reduce child mortality].
“The support of the United States in the health area has focused mostly on the reduction of infant and maternal mortality, on diseases and problems that can be prevented,” stated Karen Staton.
The administrator of the Municipality of Covalima, José Pina Cardoso, stressed that the solution for all health problems is not only the responsibility of the health agents, but also of all the people, particularly of local, Villages, Sucos, Administrative Posts and Municipalities’ leaders.