Dili, 31 March 2023- The World Health Organization (WHO), today, announced the appointment of Public Health Field Officers (PHFOs) across all municipalities in Timor-Leste. The field officers will serve as a critical link to improve coordination between the Ministry of Health (MoH), WHO, and the community.
The PHFO’s will support the municipal health officers, community health centres (CHCs) and health posts in strengthening the implementation of immunization, maternal and child services, communicable and non-communicable diseases among other health and health-related programs. By building trust and rapport with the community, the field officers will also help to ensure that public health programs are well-received by them.
“The PHFOs will help bridge the gap between the community, MoH and the WHO,” said Dr Arvind Mathur, WHO Representative to Timor-Leste. “They will work in the Municipalities with a three-point agenda- they will support the MoH in implementing public health programs, act as eyes and ears to the MoH to ensure smooth implementation of the health programs and activities and support the resolution of bottlenecks that arise during program implementation,” he said.
Deploying field officers at sub-national level has been a tried and tested method that has yielded good results. WHO had earlier placed international immunization consultants in each of the 13 municipalities to support the routine immunization and COVID-19 vaccination activities. The consultants not only helped in improving the overall vaccination coverage, but they also contributed significantly to the Vaccine Preventable Diseases (VPD) surveillance.
“We are certain that the PHFO’s will play a key role in improving health outcomes in remote districts by ensuring that our health programs are well-coordinated and tailored to meet the specific needs of the local population,” Dr Mathur said.
For more information, contact:
Jyoti Shelar, Communications Consultant, WHO: shelarj@who.int; +67077728051