The human resources are a priority of the Ministry of Health. It’s never too much and is necessary to promote their training, to invest and later put in practice the acquired knowledge and contribute to the success of the National Health Strategic Plan programs.

The Vice-Minister of Health, Madalena Hanjam, talks about the Government’s integrated work, namely with the Ministry of Education and with the National University of Timor Lorosa’e and the Cuban Government.

The Ministry of Health counts, up to 2015, on more than 1000 Timorese doctors trained in Cuba and Timor-Leste, with around 100 nurses and 50 midwifes trained, in 2012, by the Timorese school that can be sent to the several districts to perform their duties. The Oe-cussi Ambeno, Suai, Maliana, Díli and Baucau are the districts where young staff are placed.

Usually, to be able to finish the practice training, the recently graduated are placed in the districts where there are hospitals near the villages they come from and where their families are so they can have family support. The Government supports each one with 75 USD/month and has a dormitory project to provide them with better conditions.

There are gaps regarding practice with equipments they have learned to use, for example, in Cuba, but the Ministry of Health believes that practice with the most common diseases in Timor-Leste can be a good start. Begin with the basic, such as the example of the SISCa program, to inform and educate people, and so as to treat the diseases that most affect the population.