Order of Malta Medical Clinic in Dili: Our biggest project to date
As reported in our July 2016 newsletter, the Embassy of the Order of Malta in Timor Leste is about to open a medical clinic in Dili. In a country where 1 in 6 children do not reach their 1st birthday due to treatable illnesses and malnutrition, the clinic will provide an opportunity to fulfil the Order’s mission to help our Lords the poor and the sick.
The Order’s clinic will be a best-practice outpatient primary health care facility offering free medical care to impoverished Timorese families. It will have an emphasis on the provision of care to women and children. The clinic comprises examination rooms and a procedure room, and is anticipated to treat 200 patients a day.
The premises have been generously provided rent free by the developer and the first stage of the fit out has been financed by the Order’s Global Fund for Forgotten People. However, there are still building related expenses as well as the purchasing of medical equipment and the financing of the ongoing operational costs.
Regional Associations and delegations of the Order in the Asia Pacific Region and beyond, have been approached to ‘sponsor’ various elements of the project. The Australian Association has been asked to finance the pharmaceuticals cost for the first year of operation. This has been calculated at AUD$60,000.
Even small donations can help save lives:
- $100.00 would pay for 15 courses of penicillin
- $250.00 would pay for 20 doses of polio vaccine
- $500.00 would purchase 12 tins of nutritional supplements
Please consider a donation to this project. Donations can be made online using our secure Paypal facility:
Timor-Leste: one of the world’s least developed countries
- More than 40% of the population lives below the poverty line of USD 88 cents a day.
- One of the highest rates of women dying from pregnancy and childbirth in Asia.
- More than 45% of children are underweight for their age
- Limited access to clean water and basic sanitation contributes to the spread of infectious diseases such as diarrhoea, which can be fatal.
- Malaria is highly endemic in all districts with the highest morbidity and mortality rates reported in children.
- Tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health problem with an estimated 8,000 active TB cases nationally.
- Infectious disease, low utilisation of skilled assistance for antenatal and poor reproductive health are the most common causes of infant mortality.
