Program aims:
STRONG TL will strengthen communicable disease surveillance and control in Timor-Leste and evaluate the impact of improved surveillance on health system and health security policy responsiveness. Development of local capacity in selected sentinel sites will deliver sustainable and ongoing improvements to the health system. In country implementation of feasible, evidence-based, health policy and practice guidelines will further strengthen health security, improve health outcomes and assist Timor-Leste in meeting its obligations under International Health Regulations.
The aims of the program are to:
- Understand how improved capacity for clinical and laboratory based communicable disease surveillance in Timor-Leste can rapidly identify and report on shifts in epidemiology and emerging threats
- Improve health service delivery through implementation of evidence-based national guidelines for public health and clinical responses to key infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance
- Promote collaboration and training in health systems and operational research in Timor-Leste and Northern Australia
Please watch this video for a fantastic summary of our STRONG-TL project in Timor-Leste.
Chief investigator:
Co-investigators
- Professor Anna Ralph - Menzies School of Health Research
- Professor David Brewster
- Professor Nelson Martins
- Professor Joao Martins
- Professor Ross Andrews
- Associate Professor Vicki Krause
- Dr Nicholas Coatsworth
- Associate Professor Rob Baird
- Dr Nicholas Fancourt
Associate investigators
- Professor Peter McMinn
- Dr Ismael Barreto
- Dr Ines Da Silva Almeida
- Associate Professor Martyn Kirk
- Associate Professor Heidi Smith-Vaughan - Menzies School of Health Research
- Dr Peter Markey
- Dr Vijaya Joshi
- Associate Professor Dianne Stephens
- Professor Kim Mulholland
Program dates:
- July 2018 - June 2021
Funders:
Collaborators:
- Timor-Leste Ministry of Health
- Maluk Timor
- Northern Territory Centre for Disease Control
- Royal Darwin Hospital Laboratory
- World Health Organization Timor-Leste
Australian partners:
| Menzies School of Health Research | Darwin | Lead organisation |
| Australian National University (ANU) | Canberra | Support for field epidemiology training and the Master of Philosophy in Applied Epidemiology |
| University of Sydney (USyd) | Sydney | Support for laboratory capacity building activities |
| Northern Territory Centre for Disease Control (NT CDC) | Darwin | Support for surveillance and communicable disease control training and mentoring |
| Royal Darwin Hospital (RDH) | Darwin | Support for laboratory capacity building and mentoring |
International partners:
| Timor-Leste Ministry of Health | Government | Dili, Timor-Leste | Implementation of communicable disease surveillance and control activities, through its communicable disease control and surveillance departments. Throughout the project, MoH surveillance staff will recieve training to improve their capacity to deliver effective disease surveillance and control. |
| National Health Laboratory (NHL) | Health services | Dili, Timor-Leste | Implementation of diagnostic microbiology components of the project in Timor-Leste. |
| Hospital Nacional Guido Valadares (HNGV) | Health services | Dili, Timor-Leste | Implementation of disease surveillance activities as a key sentinel site. |
| Maluk Timor | Health services | Dili, Timor-Leste | Implementation of capacity building activities, supervision of project staff and coordination of in-country logistics in Timor-Leste. |
| University Nacional Timor Lo'rosae (UNTL) | University | Dili, Timor-Leste | Support for training activities and identification of suitable candidates for higher degree research scholarships. |
| Instituto Nacional de Saude (INS) | University | Dili, Timor-Leste | Support for training activities and research strategy development and administration in Timor-Leste. |
| World Health Organisation (WHO) | United Nations | Dili, Timor-Leste | Support for training activities and coordination of STRONG TL activities with national and international public health priorities. |
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- Nevio Sarmento, Endang Soares da Silva, Ismael Barreto, João C. Ximenes, Julia M. Angelina, Dircia M. Correia, Silvia M. Babo, Ari Jayanti P. Tilman, Antonio Salles de Sousa, Elisabeth Hornay, Lourenço C. Ico, Filipe de Neri Machado, Maria Varela Niha, Susan Ballard, Chantel Lin, Benjamin Howden, Rob Baird, Johanna Wapling, Lucsendar Alves, Tessa Oakley, Ian Marr, Anthony D. K. Draper, Paul Arkell, Heidi Smith-Vaughan, Nicholas S. S. Fancourt, Jennifer Yan, and Joshua R. Francis (2023) The COVID-19 laboratory response in Timor-Leste; a story of collaboration, The Lancet Regional Health - Southeast Asia 2023;11: 100150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lansea.2023.100150
- Nevio Sarmento, Tessa Oakley, Endang Soares da Silva, Ari Tilman, Merita Monteiro, Lucsendar Alves, Ismael Barreto, Ian Marr, Anthony D. K. Draper, Gloria de Castro Hall, Jennifer Yan and Joshua R. Francis, 2022, Strong relationships between the Northern Territory of Australia and Timor-Leste, Microbiology Australia, https://doi.org/10.1071/MA22039
- Korte, L., Bowen, A.C., Draper, A., Davis, K., Applebe, A., Da Silva Almeida, I., Do Rosario, I., Dingle, B. & Francis, J.R. (2018). Scabies and impetigo in Timor-Leste: a school screening study in two districts. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 12(5): e0006400.
- Davis, K., Remenyi, B., Draper, A., Dos Santos, J., Bayley, N., Paratz, E., Reeves, B., Appelbe, A., Cochrane, A., Johnson, T., Korte, L., Do Rosario, I., Da Silva Almeida, I., Roberts, K., Carapetis, J. & Francis, J.R. (2018). High prevalence of rheumatic heart disease in school students in Timor-Leste: an echocardiography-based prevalence study. Medical Journal of Australia, 208(7): 303-307.
- Marr, I., Sarmento, N., O’Brien, M., Lee, K., Gusmao, C., de Castro, G., Janson, S., Tong, S.Y.C., Baird, R.W. & Francis, J.R. (2017). Antimicrobial resistance in urine and skin isolates in Timor-Leste. Journal of Global Antimicrobial Resistance, 13: 135-138.
- Tebano, G., La Martire, G., Sarmento, N. & Francis, J.R. (2018). Antibiotic resistance in Timor-Leste: a systematic review of evidence. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 73(4): 1110-1111.