National Strategic Plan for HIV, STIs and Viral Hepatitis

The Ministry of Health, Timor-Leste, has decided to develop an integrated National Strategic Plan (NSP) for HIV/AIDS, STIs and viral hepatitis, 2022-2026 with WHO technical assistance to combat these three diseases effectively. NSP has been made possible through a series of consultations and careful consideration by bringing together implementation experience in each disease area, and defining an integrated approach with specific steps and targets over the five-year period till 2026.

A mid-term review MTR) of the HIV/STI programme conducted in 2019 reported that "prevention is not keeping pace with the epidemic", which is largely concentrated among key populations (KP) and is starting to spread among other groups. It called for interrupting transmission with effective KP interventions by saturating coverage with essential HIV/STI services, including building trust and boosting outreach/pre-vention at the local levels. The recommendations have been taken forward to inform the integrated approach in this costed NSP. Health care services will be strengthened across the overlapping disease areas to improve screening, diagnosis, treatment and immunization capacity.