Timor-Leste Health Care Seeking Behaviour Study - Secretaria de ...

6. How do health service providers view their role in the community?7. What do health service providers see as the enablers and barriers to effective and efficienthealth care?8. How are providers connected to the community and how well do they understandcommunity needs?9. To what extent is preventive health care viewed as part of basic health service provision byboth clients and providers?1.3 Research contextSince the establishment of the United Nations Transitional Authority of East Timor (UNTAET) in 1999and independence in 2002, several large national surveys with relevance to health have been carriedout. Each provides some data that help construct a picture of health and health-related outcomes.Numerous qualitative investigations into aspects of health-care seeking have also been undertakenby the World Bank [7], HAI [9-16], TAIS [19-21], Care [8], OXFAM [18], HealthNet [17, 23-25], and UNagencies such as UNFPA [22] and UNICEF.In 2001 the Poverty Assessment of Timor Loro Sa’e was conducted. This comprised two surveys. Thefirst was an administrative census which collected data on the number of households at suco andaldeia level throughout Timor ‐Leste, and which provided a sampling frame for later nationalhousehold surveys. The second was a household expenditure survey of a nationally representativesample of 1800 households.The limitations of the suco sampling frame were reported later in the 2002 Multi Indicator ClusterSurvey (MICS) [4], which noted a “tendency toward overstatement of both population andhouseholds in many areas, especially in Dili”. The MICS was developed especially to meet the needsof developing countries lacking reliable routine sources of data and/or experience in carrying outhousehold surveys to measure performance in relation to the World Summit for Children and, later,the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and World Fit for Children initiatives. Major topicsincluded infant and child mortality, education, water and sanitation, child malnutrition and childhealth, HIV/AIDS and reproductive health.In 2003 the first comprehensive assessment of the demographic, health and nutrition status of thepopulation of the independent state of Timor-Leste took place [5]. However, as census data werenot yet available, the suco survey population estimates from 2001 were retained as the samplingframe. The Demographic Health Survey (DHS) provided particularly valuable data on reproductivehealth, maternal and child health, fertility preferences and nutrition.1.3.1 Timor-Leste Census 2004The 2004 Census [26] was the first full national census after independence. It made use of GlobalPositioning System (GPS) technology and every household in the country was mapped and surveyed,thus providing an up-to-date sampling frame for future surveys. The Census collected vitaldemographic data as well as population data on social factors such as literacy, employment,household living standards and fertility.Timor-Leste Health Care Seeking Behaviour Study | 200914