The National Hospital of Guido Valadares (HGNV) will stop transferring kidney patients overseas this year as the hospital is sufficiently resourced to treat kidney conditions.
Dr Aniceto Barreto said patients who are currently receiving treatment overseas will return to Timor-Leste to continue treatment at HGNV.
He said the hospital now had eight kidney dialysis machines as both Timorese and foreign doctors and nurses trained in the use of the machines.
“In the future we will not send the patients to do dialysis overseas,” Dr Barreto said from his office in Bidau Toko Baru, Dili.
He said there were currently 16 patients receiving dialysis treatment at HNGV with a further eight in Indonesia. The overseas patients will return to Timor-Leste soon to use the existing eight machines.
Patients with specific complaints, such as hepatitis, will use specific machines.
Member of Parliament (MP) Ilda Maria da Conceicao agreed with the decision to stop treating patients overseas, saying it was important to see adequate health care could be provided in-country.
The Member of Commission F (Health, Education, Gender Equality and Veterans issues) said she was disappointed with attitudes held by some health staff which caused them to treat patients poorly or sometimes not at all.
“The problem is sometimes the patients go there (health staff) do not care; that makes the families concerned,” she said.
She said the policy to reduce the number of overseas patients was good but the treatment of HNGV patients needed to improve as well, particularly in regard to the mentality of health staff towards treating them.
