04 Feb Timor-Leste’s National Institute of Health Receives New Health Worker Training Management System
This week, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in Timor-Leste handed over the newly completed Training Management Information System (TMIS) to the National Institute of Health (Instituto Nacional de Saúde [INS]), marking the end of a nine-month initiative by HRH2030 Timor-Leste to develop the TMIS. The TMIS will significantly improve management of the INS’ training data so that managers can make more informed, data-driven decisions.
INS Executive Director Domingas da Costa Pereira, representing the Government of Timor-Leste, joined USAID Office of General Development Director Teresa Miller, representing the United States Government in Timor-Leste, at the handover ceremony.
In a press release, USAID Mission Director Jim Wright noted, “USAID’s technical assistance and contribution of much needed equipment will help the INS to do an even better job meeting its mandate to provide in-service training to the health workers. This is fundamental for Timor-Leste to become a self-reliant country. USAID is proud to have supported these important efforts.” Ms. Pereira acknowledged that, “as a result of USAID assistance, INS staff have gained critical skills to use the Training Management Information System. We can now make more strategic decisions for allocating our training resources.”
Prior to the development of this new system, the INS had been tracking health worker training through a paper-based method. With the Ministry of Health employing approximately 5,000 health workers, and an estimated 2,000 additional health workers employed through the private sector, tracking their continued skill development was laborious and slow. In addition, critical information about these health workers was fragmented, lacking in standardization, and of poor quality, hindering health system leaders and managers from making informed, evidence-based decisions about training needs.
USAID’s HRH2030 program has been working with the INS since May 2020, first selecting the TMIS software, and then training INS staff to use the system. Together with INS leadership, they have worked to train INS staff on using the new system, engaging all staff in developing a work culture based on using data for all training-related decisions. By moving onto a digitized platform, with complete and accurate data, the INS is now better equipped to provide specific, targeted training in response to the country’s health workforce challenges, so that health workers can deliver better care to the Timorese population. The handover ceremony marks the conclusion of the HRH2030 program in Timor-Leste.
Featured photo: (From left to right) HRH2030 Timor-Leste Senior Technical Lead Abilio Soares, USAID Director of the Office General Development Teresa Miller, INS Executive Director Domingas da Costa Pereira, and HRH2030 Timor-Leste HRIS Specialist Gabriel de Jesus at the TMIS handover ceremony on February 1, 2021. Credit: HRH2030
Second photo: (From left to right) INS Head of the Department of Information and Communication Marta Filomena, USAID Director of the Office General Development Teresa Miller, INS Executive Director Domingas Da Costa Pereira, INS Director of Cooperation Ivone de Jesus, INS Director of Training Dirce Maria Soares, INS Director of Administration Jacinto de Jesus Guterres, HRH2030 Timor-Leste Senior Technical Lead Abilio Soares, and HRH2030 Timor-Leste HRIS Specialist Gabriel De Jesus. Credit: HRH2030