The Ministry of Health of Timor-Leste, in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), today opened a three-day national orientation workshop on telemedicine in Dili, marking a pivotal step toward bringing specialist healthcare closer to communities in remote and rural areas - long underserved by the country's geographic and infrastructural challenges.
Held from June 3 to 5, the workshop brings together Ministry of Health officials, clinicians from the Hospital Nacional Guido Valadares (HNGV), and telemedicine focal points gathered from designated sites across the country.
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Opening session of the telemedicine workshop. © WHO Timor-Leste
"As we know, specialist doctors are concentrated at the National Hospital Guido Valadares. Telemedicine will allow doctors at the municipal level to communicate and consult with them directly," said Dr Flávio Brandão, Vice Minister of Health, Operationalisation of Hospitals. He added that telemedicine can be very beneficial in helping avoid unnecessary patient referrals. “It can perform a wide range of laboratory tests and greatly assist health personnel in making accurate diagnoses and sound clinical decisions,” he said.
Dr Brandão also addressed the health workers who will operate the kiosks. "You are its custodians. Please use it properly and take good care of it," he said.
Dr Arvind Mathur, WHO Representative, said that telemedicine aligns closely with the vision of Programa Integrado Saúde (PIS), which seeks to bring comprehensive health services closer to communities. “The initiative will establish secure, kiosk-based teleconsultation hubs connecting community health centres (CHCs) and regional hospitals to specialist doctors at HNGV in Dili, with possibility for overseas consultations,” he said.
The expected benefits of telemedicine are multi-fold: better diagnosis and treatment at the community level, reduced patient travel, and more efficient use of the country's limited specialist workforce.
The initial telemedicine initiative will operate across four spoke sites: Regional Hospital Baucau, CHC Venilale in Baucau, CHC Aileu Vila in Aileu, and CHC Zumalai in Covalima, all linked to HNGV through satellite internet connectivity and a secure patient data storage system.
Once a patient is registered, health personnel can perform a range of diagnostic tests through the kiosk, including blood pressure, ECG, body weight, oxygen saturation, blood and urine tests. Results are recorded automatically in the system.
The model supports both real-time video consultations between patients and specialists, as well as store-and-forward pathways for non-urgent cases, where clinical data is collected at the spoke site and reviewed by specialists within an agreed timeframe. Patient selection at each site will ensure that only those requiring specialist advice enter the teleconsultation pathway.
The workshop will also help finalize an operational toolkit covering standard operating procedures, clinical scheduling templates, patient consent protocols, referral pathways, and IT troubleshooting guidance. A costed national scale-up roadmap will follow after one year, upon completion and review of this proof-of-concept phase.
The initiative is implemented under Ministry of Health leadership with WHO technical support.
For any further information, please contact: Sumitra DebRoy (debroys@who.int)