Timor-Leste Reinforce Basic Health Services (USAID)

The Reinforce Basic Health Services Project (Reinforce) improved the lives of Timor-Leste’s citizens by strengthening the Ministry of Health’s ability to provide high-quality essential health services.

Reinforce worked with the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the National Institute of Health (INS) to improve reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health and the healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies. Through the INS, the project increased the number of certified clinical trainers and master trainers, leading to improved quality of care throughout the country. Reinforce worked intensively in one remote municipality, Covalima, to model excellence in MOH service delivery and improved health.

When the project ended, the overall service readiness scores across all Covalima facilities improved by almost 20%. Also, access to family planning services increased, with 100% of Covalima facilities offering all seven reversible contraceptive methods and a wide array of modern methods. In terms of child health, 100 percent of facilities now have trained staff in integrated management of childhood illnesses (IMCI), which has greatly improved diagnosis and treatment of several childhood illnesses. Maternal health also improved: facility-based deliveries increased from 8 to 22 percent in community health centers and 32 to 40 percent in the hospital.

The project also produced the country's first family planning PSAs, an MOH-approved youth reproductive health curriculum, improved tools for health data use at the community level, and a feature film that encourages pregnant women to deliver at health facilities.