Skip Navigation


Health Policy and Planning Advance Access originally published online on March 24, 2006
Health Policy and Planning 2006 21(3):206-216; doi:10.1093/heapol/czl006
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
21/3/206    most recent
czl006v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (3)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Alonso, A.
Right arrow Articles by Brugha, R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Alonso, A.
Right arrow Articles by Brugha, R.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. All rights reserved.

Rehabilitating the health system after conflict in East Timor: a shift from NGO to government leadership

Alvaro Alonso1 and Ruairí Brugha2

1Health Policy Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK and 2Epidemiology and Public Health Department, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Republic of Ireland

Correspondence: Alvaro Alonso, Health Policy Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London, WC1E 7HT, U.K. E-mail: alvaro.alonso{at}lshtm.ac.uk

Efforts to rehabilitate health systems after periods of prolonged conflict have often been characterized by poor coordination of external actors – multilateral agencies, donors and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). This paper describes the process and analyses the roles of the different stakeholders in the establishment of a government-led district health system in East Timor, between 1999 and 2002, after decades of chronic conflict and Indonesian occupation. Future East Timorese policy-makers and health professionals began to mobilize in May 1999, in preparation for independence. During the emergency phase, from September 1999, when violence erupted, to March 2000, NGOs played a major role in the provision of relief to the population, coordinated by United Nations agencies. An Interim Health Authority, led by local Timorese, was established in March and the major donors began to shift funding from NGOs to the newly established Ministry of Health. A rapid phasing-out of NGOs, accompanied by a sequence of steps to build the capacity of Timorese to manage the new district health system, was implemented. Early evidence shows that health service utilization continued to grow during and after implementation.

Key Words: post conflict, health systems rehabilitation, East Timor, NGO


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Health Policy PlanHome page
L. Gilson and N. Raphaely
The terrain of health policy analysis in low and middle income countries: a review of published literature 1994-2007
Health Policy Plan., September 1, 2008; 23(5): 294 - 307.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.