Reinforce Basic Health Services in Timor-Leste Project Holds Successful Results Conference
October 23rd, 2020 | news
Our Reinforce Basic Health Services Project, supported by USAID, held a successful conference to present the project’s results on October 22 in Dili, Timor-Leste. Remote participants from around the world joined by Zoom.
Speaking at the conference, the Honorable Kathleen Fitzpatrick, U.S. Ambassador to Timor-Leste, said, “USAID’s Reinforce partnership with the MOH has created more accessible, safe and high-quality health services…. The United States Government’s goal in the health sector is to help create a health system that is resilient and self-reliant. A resilient and self-reliant health system is a health system that is well-governed, operating accountably, efficiently, and effectively. It is a health system that is responsive to public health needs and can adapt when necessary – be it a pandemic, natural disaster, or other crisis – without risking interruption of essential health services and avoiding backsliding of fragile gains.”
The Vice Minister of Health Mr. Bonifacio Mau Coli dos Reis, Covalima Municipality Administrator Afonso Nogueira Nahak, USAID Mission Director James S. Wright, and USAID’s Reinforce Chief of Party Dr. Harriet Stanley, also spoke at the conference, which was attended by government representatives from the Ministry of Health, the National Institute of Health, and Covalima Municipality Health Service; civil society representatives, and representatives from international donors and partners.
The Reinforce Basic Health Services Project ran from 2015 to 2020. With the project’s support, the percentage of health facilities in Covalima that are ready to provide essential health services increased from 51 percent in 2016 to 69 percent in 2020. Elements of readiness include basic amenities, basic equipment, infection prevention, laboratory services, medicines, and commodities.
The percentage of women giving birth in a health facility increased from 32 percent in 2016 to 40 percent in 2020 in the referral hospital and in the community health centers from 8 percent in 2016 to 22 percent in 2020. There was also a significant increase in men and women who reported that the community helps with transport in the event of a pregnancy-related emergency, from 32 percent in 2016 to 64 percent in 2020 among women respondents and 29 percent in 2016 to 61 percent in 2020 among men respondents. The percentage of women who think it is ideal to space their pregnancies by more than three years increased from 27 percent in 2016 to 49 percent in 2020.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the project helped Covalima authorities train 60 health workers and health facility staff, 70 community leaders, and 62 youth leaders. JSI helped the Ministry of Health reach more than 3,000 people with health promotion and COVID-19 prevention messages.
Read more about the Reinforce Basic Health Services Project’s impressive results:
- USAID’s Reinforce visual results summary
- USAID’s Reinforce success story booklet
- Community Leaders Discover the Power of Data (technical brief)
- Engaging Young People as Adolescent Reproductive Health Educators in Timor-Leste (technical brief)
- Covalima | Becoming a Model Municipality (technical brief)
- Strengthening the Timor-Leste National Institute of Health: A Partnership in Institutional Development (technical brief)
- USAID’s Reinforce Basic Health Services Project Results (PowerPoint presentation delivered by Chief of Party Dr. Harriet Stanley)
Watch the following videos about the project, featuring the people who benefited from the project’s results:
