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Foreign Correspondent: Aug 12

Foreign Correspondent travels to Bairopite Clinic in East Timor and discovers a major health crisis on Australia’s doorstep.

2014-08-11_1238Tonight Foreign Correspondent travels to Bairopite Clinic in Dili, East Timor and discovers a major health crisis on Australia’s doorstep in a report titled “The Clinic.”

Reporter, Sophie McNeill is on the frontline with doctors and health workers as they face the challenge of treating preventable diseases from leprosy to tuberculosis, heart failure and severe malnutrition. Foreign Correspondent spends time in the Bairopite Clinic in Dili following an inspiring band of doctors, nurses and midwives providing hope and happiness to thousands of East Timorese. Over half of children under 5 are underweight and stunted for their age. Meanwhile, deaths in childbirth are one of the highest in all of Asia.

It’s early morning at Bairopite clinic in the suburbs of Dili, East Timor and there are already hundreds of patients waiting to see Dr Dan Murphy. The former GP from America’s Midwest came to the country 16 years ago with just one little bag and has been here ever since. During that time he’s managed to do an awful lot with very few resources.

While Australia and East Timor continue to wrangle over who owns the rights to billions of dollars worth of oil and gas in the Timor Sea, the standard of living here continues to plod. According to a UN report last year 68% of the population still lives in poverty, 38 per cent in severe poverty.

Dr Dan and his team have become experts in diseases most Australian’s thought has been consigned to history. When five-year-old Paulo walks in with strange marks on his arms and face, Dr Dan knew Leprosy might be on the cards. He’s already seen 7 cases in the past month. Meanwhile, there is a ward full of Tuberculosis patients and another packed with malnourished children. We meet Ozmenia, who’s four years old, but only weighs 6.7 kilos.

Meanwhile, up in the mountains of the Ermera District, women have walked for hours to see Dr Aida Goncalves and her team of midwives. East Timor has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in Asia and Dr Goncalves does her best to convince women seek out help when giving birth. Her motivations make a difference to these people’s lives is driven by tragedy close to home – three brothers lost to preventable illness.

Back in Dili, 34-year-old father of three Tomas Pinto is dangerously ill and could die at any moment. Like many East Timorese, he had rheumatic fever when he was younger, a common illness here that can lead to lifelong heart trouble. In Australia, a simple operation would fix the valve in his heart that has become dangerously narrow; however this is just one of the many operations not available in East Timor. He can’t believe his luck when a lifeline from Australia is suddenly extended to him.

‘The Clinic’ is challenging and confronting yet uplifting and enriching viewing. From a frantically busy clinic in Dili to the lush mountains districts to a Melbourne cardiac ward, in her debut report for Foreign Correspondent, Sophie McNeill follows the inspiring doctors and patients caught in the middle of this crisis.

Tuesday, 12 August at 8pm on ABC.

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