About Us
East Timor is rebuilding its health system and the East Timor Eye Program (ETEP) is playing an active role in this task by performing eye operations and training local doctors and nurses. The country is one of the poorest in the world, with 40% of people living on less than USD0.55 a day. Decades of civil unrest in the young nation have led to an acute shortage of health workers, including appropriately trained eye health personnel. Blindness is an economic and social burden for any developing nation. According to a survey conducted by the Timorese health ministry, there is an estimated 47,000 people in Timor Leste over the age of 40 living with vision impairment.
The most common eye problems in Timor Leste are refractive error, cataract, Vitamin A deficiency and trauma, all of which can cause significant visual impairment or blindness. All of these eye conditions are preventable or treatable.
The East Timor Eye Program (ETEP) commenced in July 2000 in response to a request by the World Health Organisation (WHO)to re-establish eye health services in East Timor soon after it gained independence from Indonesia.
In the early years, the focus of the Program was on delivering curative eye care services. This included cataract and other ophthalmic surgery as well as the provision of spectacles to people during the conflict.
Over the years, the focus of the Program has changed from service delivery towards making East Timor self-sufficient in eye-care by 2015 and the eradication of preventable blindness by the year 2025. The ETEP is working to achieve these goals through a range of approaches in which the short-term curative needs are met and long-term sustainability is achieved.
The Program is focused on expanding its current work in East Timor and is increasingly focused on improving eye care services at a district and sub-district level. It aims to achieve this through a combination of capacity building, service delivery and infrastructure development activities. To find out more about the programs and the work we do in East Timor please click here.
Behind the Scenes
Andreas Kreis - Ophthalmologist, commencing 2011
 "I always had an interest in international medicine and during my ophthalmology specialist training it became very clear that a project like the East Timor Eye Program was something that I would like to become involved with.
I was kindly invited by Dr Nitin Verma and the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons to join one of the trips to Dili to get an idea of what to expect, workwise but also culturally. The beauty of the country, the culture, the people and the pride but also humbleness that every single patient had when confronted with their fate made a great impression on me.
Very soon it became clear that with my skills and experience I could try and contribute to the almost endless amount of work in eye care that Dr Marcelino, Dr Girish and the whole ETEP team are facing every day."
Contact Us
East Timor Eye Program
C/- Karen Moss
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
College of Surgeons Gardens
250 - 290 Spring Street
East Melbourne Victoria 3002
Australia
Telephone: +61 3 9276 7436
Facimile:
+61 3 9249 1236
Email: karen.moss@surgeons.org |
