Dili, December 4, 2024 (Média Democracia) – Timor-Leste celebrated two decades of high-impact partnerships with the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria on Tuesday, a major step toward tackling the deadly infectious diseases that kill many people around the world. Since the beginning of 2003, Timor-Leste has received $108.6 million from the Global Fund, which has been used to strengthen its health care system and save lives.
Global Fund was established in 2002 to combat HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Global Fund has mobilized resources worldwide to save lives and strengthen health systems. Timor-Leste’s partners began with $2.87 million in support for malaria control, marking the beginning of a journey that has previously allocated more than $41.7 million for Malaria, $28 million for HIV, nearly $31 million for Tuberculosis and more than $27 million for resilient and sustainable health systems. Additionally, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Global Fund expanded its support with a $5.5 million subsidy.
The event held at the Presidential Palace to celebrate the collaboration was attended by the President of Timor-Leste, Dr. José Ramos-Horta; Dr. José Dos Reis Magno, Deputy Minister of Defense Institutions, WHO Representative Dr. Arvind Mathur; Sr. Filipe da Costa and Sra. Sabina Fernandes Seac, President and Vice President of the Country Coordinating Mechanism-CCM together with the Ambassador from Australia and representatives from the Embassy of the European Union.
“I greatly appreciate the presence of the Global Funds in Timor-Leste, its support is very meaningful for efforts to combat malaria, TB, and HIV so that its reach extends to rural areas, including the pandemic. I am very grateful to WHO for its continued technical support.” Said President Dr. Horta
He continued, asking the Ministry of Health and its partners to look at the relationship between nutrition and handling of TB disease, so that they can adopt an approach that gets good health care.
Dr. Magno of WHO and the Global Fund will continue to support critical life-saving programs until these diseases are no longer a threat to public health. He also told the audience about the compromise signed by former Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak to eradicate TB by 2025.
Dr. Marthur outlined the measurable impact of this collaboration, saying, “TB deaths have decreased by 55% since 2015 and have a high case detection of 6,171 cases in 2023, due to increased diagnostic deployment.”
He continued, the number of new HIV infections and HIV/AIDS-related deaths has decreased, reflecting ongoing efforts to strengthen prevalence with small numbers.
On Malaria, Dr. Marthur said that this significant progress also underscores the importance of state protection to achieve elimination. Timor-Leste has hosted two elimination missions and is now looking to ensure that malaria cases do not recur in the future.
Manab Basnet, Portfolio Manager of the Global Fund congratulated Timor-Leste for making significant progress in saving lives over the past 20 years. He reiterated the Global Fund’s commitment to continue its support and thanked all partners, including WHO, Ambassadors, and NGOs for their generous contributions.
It was further explained that the event also featured a presentation tent that showed the progress and developments that had been achieved in combating the disease. The Ministry of Health showed a precedent for malaria blood testing using a microscope to provide participants with an overview of the process. In addition, a giant mosquito was also displayed to illustrate the mosquito species that are abundant in the country.
Reported by : Nelfiano
Photo : Nelfiano