Your Excellency, Dr Elia, Minister of Health
José dos Reis Magno, Vice-Minister, Institutional Strengthening of Health
Dr Flávio Brandão, Vice-Minister, Hospital Operations
Dr Arvind Mathur, WHO Representative
Director Generals, National Directors, and officials from the Ministries.
A good evening to you all.
I am very pleased to be with you here today. While this is my first visit to Timor-Leste as Regional Director, I have been fortunate to have visited previously as a private citizen. The progress that you have made since that first visit of mine is quite remarkable,
You are one of the youngest nations in the world, and despite emerging from conflict, your achievements are truly inspiring.
In just two decades, you have extended life expectancy by nearly a decade. You have increased the number of doctors from 20 to one thousand and were one of the early achievers for meeting the MDG target for reducing maternal and infant deaths.
You have eliminated diseases like Polio, maternal and neonatal tetanus, measles and Rubella– and you have achieved this while having one of the lowest out-of-pocket expenditures in our WHO South-East Asia Region.
I am pleased that your journey towards Universal Health Coverage has been a shared one with WHO, where we have walked alongside you in this effort.
Let me assure you that our close collaboration will only deepen and strengthen over time.
You've made remarkable strides, but I believe the best is yet to come.
As you know, Timor-Leste is among the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world, and the impact of this is already felt through disease-related complications.
But you are not alone in this challenge.
Current evidence indicates a delay and deviation in achieving UN Sustainable Development Goal 3 targets, particularly in health, due to factors like demographic shifts, climate change, conflicts, and humanitarian crises.
Climate change, in particular, is a growing threat to mental health and psychosocial well-being, as I emphasized at a recent regional workshop in Bali.
Its impact exacerbates existing social, environmental, and economic risks to mental health, and our region is particularly vulnerable to this.
Many countries in our region face significant gaps in mental health services, underscoring the urgent need to strengthen these systems.
Therefore, Timor-Leste's commitment to preventing mental disorders and protecting the rights of those affected, as outlined in your Mental Health Strategy, is admirable and commendable.
Addressing these complex challenges requires a united front involving governments, international organizations, civil society, the private sector, and communities themselves.
I would like to reiterate that to accelerate progress towards the SDGs and other milestones, we have developed a Regional Roadmap for Results and Resilience 2024–2029.
The Regional Roadmap is a flexible framework with five interconnected parts.
It can be used in all health programs across Southeast Asia, from planning to evaluation.
Each part can work alone, but they're designed to be used together for the best results.
The first four parts focus on making health care holistic, equitable, innovative, and sustainable, while the fifth part focuses on WHO's role as an enabler.
To put the Roadmap into action, we have created what we call the ‘5Rs’.
These are:
- Reinforcing mental health, well-being and quality of life for all
- Reaffirming investment in women, girls, adolescents and vulnerable populations
- Realizing access to technology and innovations
- Raising capacity, and
- Refining WHO leadership and performance.
Embracing the 5Rs can provide a strategic framework to address some of the complex health issues facing us.
Together, we can pledge to tackle these – and more.
- Better mental health, safer child births, healthier lifestyles, and taking full advantage of the digital revolution.
Your Excellency, I am sure you know that in this exciting and challenging journey towards UHC, I and my WHO team stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you.
I know that we have worked together extremely well in the past, and we will continue to do so in the future.
I look forward to this, and to being a partner and collaborator in your efforts to improve the health of everyone in your country.
Thank you.