Patient Joana Maria Dulce Vitor accuses the Ministry of Health of discriminating against patients that want to go abroad for healthcare, focusing on family systems and positions rather than looking at people’s illnesses.
She made these comments after health staff and the Vice Minister of Health Natalia de Araújo called off her trip to Bali for the treatment of a uterus tumour.
That’s why Vitor, who is also a Commissioner for the National Electoral Commission, said she wasn’t satisfied with the Vice Minister’s decision to send her for another check up at the national hospital, because she had a reference letter and abstract from the doctor.
She said Vice Minister Maria do Ceu herself said the operation should be carried out abroad, as they didn’t have the facilities to detect whether the tumour was malignant or not before the operation.
“We’re not blaming the government, they have a good policy, but those who implement it must implement it well, not treat their families better than others and take them abroad for healthcare because in reality, some women have died on the plane on the way,” said Vitor at the National Hospital Guido Valadares (HNGV) in Dili.
She said she felt the decision was unfair because she prepared all the documents for the one-month process but finally they cancelled it because they could do the operation in Timor, while other people with foreign passports could go abroad for treatment as they were related to the Vice Minister of Health.
She said she would not try again and decided not to have the operation at HNGV, but would look for another way to go abroad for the operation.
“I don’t distrust the doctors at the national hospital but the Vice Minister’s words were traumatic, saying that it’s a major operation and they could do it here but they don’t have the facilities to detect it,” said Vitor.
She said she went to hospital in March 2013 for 10 days and the doctors discovered she had a tumour in her uterus and said she needed an operation.
In relation to the process of providing documents for the transfer, she said it was difficult for those who didn’t know how to read and write because the process was bureaucratic.
On the other hand, the National Director of Hospital Support Work in the Ministry of Health Horacio Sarmento da Costa said they didn’t discriminate against patients because patients should have a reference letter to say the disease can’t be cured here.
“We don’t discriminate against anyone; even a civil servant with plenty of money will undertake treatment in HNGV when he is in poor health, but if he cannot be cured here and needs to be transferred, we don’t look at someone’s life. As Timorese citizens we all have the right,” said Director Horacio.
Director da Costa said they had not transferred foreigners but recently there was one case where they sent the patient Welfried Adolfus Seran to a hospital in Surabaya.
He said they received a declaration from the Ministry of Justice to request the approval, as he had lived in Timor for 35 years and his child worked as a doctor in Railaku.
Director da Costa said the Ministry of Health sent a request to the Ministry of Justice to get a declaration to give to the Ambulance Directorate to give to the minister for approval, but Vice Minister Maria do Ceu was acting to approve requests for treatment abroad.
Vice Minister Maria do Ceu did not respond to TDW’s questions about the transfer of Welfried Adolfus Seran.
