Data from the Family Health Program shows that health personnel have visited 22% of Timor-Leste’s population.
National Coordinator of the Family Health Program Dr Noel Gama Soares said health personnel had visited 45,722 families across Timor-Leste to date.
This figure represents 22% of the population, according to the 2015 population census, he said in his office in Kaikoli, Dili.
The program is aimed at delivering better access to health care services in rural areas, so people could check their medical status.
Soares said there was still no clear data from rural areas on the rates of disease, although cases of both infectious and non-infectious disease were being registered.
He said the lack of reliable internet service in rural areas was a challenge for personnel as this meant they could not input data into the Health Ministry’s online system while they were in the field.
Member of Commission F (responsible for health, education, culture, veteran affairs and gender equality) MP Eduardo de Deus Barreto said the program was an effective way of monitoring the health status of families in rural areas.
“This is a good system to identify the diseases, particularly among people who live in the rural and remote areas,” he said.
He also praised the online system used by the Ministry of Health to register health issues affecting the rural population.
