Target TB working in partnership with Klibur Domin

Country/regional profile

Adjacent to Indonesia, East Timor, or Timor-Leste, is one of the newest and poorest nations in the world today. The country gained its independence from Indonesia in 2002 but suffered a severe loss of infrastructure, including health facilities, during the hostilities that followed.

With a population of just under 1 million people Timor-Leste has seen a steady increase in TB cases, and now has one of the highest incidences of TB in the world. Poverty, malnutrition and an under-resourced health service make tackling TB extremely difficult. The burden of infectious diseases, such as TB, is a major barrier to development in Timor-Leste.

Klibur Domin has microscopy
facilities to promote faster diagnosis
of TB cases

Our work with Kilbur Domin

Target TB is working in partnership with Klibur Domin, a Timorese NGO located in Tibar village, Liquica district, about 20 minutes out of Dili. It operates a long stay residential health care facility providing care and support for people who are ill or have a disability. Since 2006 Klibur Domin has extended its work to include TB and is working in partnership with the National TB Programme to strengthen TB control efforts in rural communities of Timor Leste.

Project Aims

To promote TB control in remote rural communities of Liquica and Ermera districts of Timor-Leste.

Project Activities

Training local community volunteers on the symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of TB. The volunteers will then work in their local communities to help detect and manage TB patients, and act as DOTS providers throughout the 8 months of treatment.

Village health post nurses will also be trained and mentored by the project staff, building their confidence and skills in managing TB patients.

The project will be overseen by two health professionals: a TB resource nurse and a TB health promoter who will also be responsible for developing and distributing health promotion materials to over 140,000 people in the two sub-districts.

Through supporting and training community volunteers and local healthcare providers, we aim to strengthen existing community and health frameworks. It is hoped that the partnership of Klibur Domin with the National TB Programme in Timor-Leste will become a model of public-private cooperation for others in the country