In 2008, East Meets West will brings its newborn health program, Breath of Life (BOL), to the National Hospital of Dili, in East Timor’s capital city. The BOL program will create the nation’s first modern newborn care unit, providing equipment and training for lifesaving respiratory therapy for all the hospital’s patients.

Timor is a country in transition, slowly recovering from years of conflict. The capacity of its health system is severely limited, both in urban and rural areas, and infant mortality remains high. The National Hospital’s few basic phototherapy machines and incubators are in questionable condition and the staff lacks specific training on newborn care and respiratory problems.

As it has done so successfully in Vietnam, the BOL program will equip the hospital with inexpensively produced medical devices, such as the Continuous Positive Air Pressure (CPAP) machine, and provide training in respiratory therapy to hospital staff.

This groundbreaking project, to be implemented in collaboration with the Italian organization Trentino Friends of Neonatology, will be operational by the end of 2008. As Luciano Moccia, EMW’s Breath of Life national coordinator, explains: “Respiratory distress is the most severe problem in Timor’s National Hospital, affecting roughly 40% of patients. Right now, they have no capacity for treatment: no ventilators, no CPAP machines. Our program will enable this hospital to provide respiratory therapy to babies, literally saving hundreds of them each year.”

To find out more about this project or any EMW news, contact the Communications Department at info@eastmeetswest.org.