The Timor-Leste health sector reviewdescribes the accomplishments made by the government ofTimore-Leste in the health sector since it separated fromIndonesia, and analyzes the challenges still facing thegovernment moving forward. Infant and maternal mortality,and malnutrition, are still important battles.Underutilization of services, and poor quality of serviceswhen available, are also reasons for the poor health qualityindicators. Improving the quality or effectiveness of healthservices is difficult.However, now that most of the basichealth care infrastructure is in place, the time is rightfor the Ministry of Health (MOH) to develop a system tomonitor and upgrade the quality of health care services,starting with public sector services. One initiative putforth is health education delivered through variouschannels, which would make households better aware of therisks associated with certain health conditions or symptomsand the importance of using the available health servicesfrom government and NGO facilities. A second type ofpotential intervention is the introduction of conditionalcash transfers, whereby the Government pays a subsidy tohouseholds in exchange for certain behaviors beneficial tosociety, such as having their children immunized. Carryingout the various interventions described above would requirethat the Government increased its spending on healthservices further.
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