The President of the Chinese NGO GX Foundation, Leung Chunying, today, January 23rd, 2024, handed over 10 tons of dengue protection equipment and supplies to the Prime Minister, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, and the Vice-Minister for Institutional Strengthening of Health, José dos Reis Magno, at a ceremony held at the Ministry of Health in Dili. The ceremony was attended by the Chinese Ambassador to Timor-Leste, Wang Wenli, and the Executive Director of the GX Foundation.

The donation, worth approximately 1 million US dollars, is part of the pilot project called “Protecting Health Against Dengue Fever in Timor-Leste”, which is expected to last 9 months. The project covers more than 300 medical facilities throughout the country, including hospitals, community health centers and health posts.

The main objective of this project is to implement a comprehensive approach in the fight against dengue, through prevention, protection, awareness and early diagnosis, with the donation of mosquito lamps, mosquito nets, self-adhesive traps and rapid dengue tests, as well as health education actions to local communities, churches and schools.

The GX Foundation thus becomes the first Chinese organization to implement public health projects in Timor-Leste since the strengthening of Sino-Timorese relations promoted by the signing of a comprehensive strategic partnership in September 2023.

In his speech during the ceremony, the President of the GX Foundation, Leung Chunying, expressed “gratitude to the Government of Timor-Leste and other partners for their support” for the project, “which marks an important beginning of a strong partnership between [the organization and the Government of Timor-Leste] in public health”.

Leung Chunying expressed confidence that this project will not only “further strengthen the connectivity and friendship between the peoples of China and Timor-Leste”, but will also minimize the risks of dengue infection, a disease that “is of growing concern worldwide” and in which “Southeast Asia is one of the vulnerable regions”.

Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão expressed gratitude to the GX Foundation for the swift development of this dengue protection pilot program. He further emphasized that “among the many challenges in Timor-Leste, the mosquito may be one of the smallest but is also one of the deadliest,” because despite successfully “eradicating malaria, with no recorded local transmissions since 2018,” “dengue is widely circulating in the community, and children are particularly vulnerable.”

The Head of Government said he had “the honor” of “meeting President Xi Jinping again, this time in Hangzhou in September last year,” where it was agreed to “elevate our bilateral relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership,” and this “donation by the GX Foundation of practical humanitarian assistance to help us reduce the risk of dengue fever is another positive step in this partnership.”