The East Timor Eye Program (ETEP) commenced in July 2000 in response to a request by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to re-establish eye health services in Timor-Leste soon after it gained independence from Indonesia. In the early years, the focus of the Program was on delivering curative eye care services. This included cataract and other ophthalmic surgery as well as the provision of spectac
les to people during the conflict. Over the years, the focus of the Program has changed from service delivery towards making Timor-Leste self-sufficient in eye-care by 2015 and the eradication of preventable blindness by the year 2025. The ETEP is working to achieve these goals through a range of approaches in which the short-term curative needs are met and long-term sustainability is achieved. The Program is focused on expanding its current work in Timor-Leste and is increasingly focused on improving eye care services at a district and sub-district level. It aims to achieve this through a combination of capacity building, service delivery and infrastructure development activities. Until today, the ETEP has performed more than 7,000 eye operations and treatments, provided eye consultations to over 51,794 Timorese and dispensed over 64,000 spectacles. It has supported the training of East Timor’s first ophthalmologist and established sub-specialty ophthalmology programs.
