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Odete Maria Freitas Belo

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This article is about the East Timorese physician and politician. For the East Timorese civil servant, see Odete Maria Belo.
Odete Maria Freitas Belo
Belo in 2022
Belo in 2022
Minister of Health
In office
29 May 2020 – 1 July 2023
Prime MinisterTaur Matan Ruak
Preceded byRui Maria de Araújo
Succeeded byÉlia António de Araújo dos Reis Amaral [de]
Personal details
Born (1966-02-21) 21 February 1966 (age 58)
Political partyFretilin
Alma mater
ProfessionPhysician
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Odete Maria Freitas Belo (born 21 February 1966) is an East Timorese physician and politician, and a member of the Fretilin political party. From May 2020 to July 2023, she was the Minister of Health, serving in the VIII Constitutional Government of East Timor led by Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak.

Early life and education

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Belo was born in Baucau, in the then Portuguese Timor (now East Timor). In 1996, she graduated from Udayana University, in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, with a degree in medicine, and in 2010, she completed a Master's degree in Public Health at Gadjah Mada University, Sleman Regency, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.[1]

Early and administrative career

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Initially, Belo practised general medicine for more than five years in the Viqueque Municipality. She then spent 24 years as a health services manager and administrator.[1]

Between 2010 and 2012, Belo was Deputy Director for Cooperation and Management of External Health Funds. From 2012, she was Chairman of the Temporary Management and Functioning Committee of the Autonomous Service of Medicines and Health Equipment E.P. (Portuguese: Serviço Autónomo de Medicamentos e Equipamentos de Saúde, SAMES E.P.). In 2015, she was appointed as chairman of the Liquidation Committee of the same public enterprise.[1]

As of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in East Timor in early 2020, Belo was the general director of health care at the Ministry of Health. On 13 April 2020, she announced, in that capacity, that when the number of severely ill COVID-19 patients increased, the government would use the old 150-room Dr. António de Carvalho Hospital in Lahane [de] as a medical facility for them.[2]

At that time, the government was using a facility in Vera Cruz as an isolation centre for moderate COVID-19 patients; Belo also announced that if that facility became full, then an isolation centre in Tasi-tolu would be used for mild patients.[2]

Ministerial career

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On 29 May 2020, following a change in the governing coalition, and the admission of Fretilin to the VIII Constitutional Government, Belo was sworn in as Minister of Health.[3][4]

Upon taking up that appointment, Belo formally replaced Rui Maria de Araújo, who had resigned in 2018; two Deputy Ministers of Health, Élia António de Araújo dos Reis Amaral [de] and Bonifácio dos Reis [de], respectively, had acted as Minister in the meantime, as President Francisco Guterres had declined to swear-in CNRT leader Xanana Gusmão's preferred candidate for the post.[5][6]

On 1 June 2020, Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak was reported as having said that he was optimistic that the eight new members of the government who had been sworn in the previous week, including Belo, would "strengthen" the government.[7] The following week, on 9 June 2020, Belo attended a meeting of ministers to coordinate the implementation of the restructured government's projects and programs, at which the rehabilitation of the Lahane hospital was one of the projects analysed.[8]

Soon afterwards, Belo and the Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Fidelis Manuel Leite Magalhães, held two further coordinating meetings, with UNICEF and to coordinate proposals for amendments to the law, respectively, in each case in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.[9][10] Belo also met with the Deputy Minister of the Interior, António Armindo [de], to discuss a proposed contingency plan of procedures and sanitary measures to protect public health upon reinstatement of normal functioning of the national borders.[11]

On 18 January 2021, the government, represented by Belo, entered into a partnership with the European Union (EU) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to "mitigate the impacts of communicable diseases, particularly COVID-19" and to make East Timor's health system stronger, more effective and more resilient.[12] In March 2021, the UN resident representative in East Timor, Roy Trivedy, praised Belo and the Director General of the Ministry, Odete Viegas, for being "fundamental in leading the health response in the pandemic".[13] On 16 June 2021, Belo, the EU and the WHO entered into a memorandum of understanding aimed at strengthening the government's response to COVID-19 in five regional municipalities.[14]

Meanwhile, on 3 May 2022, Belo attended a meeting with the Ambassador of the United States of America to East Timor, Kevin Blackstone, at which the cooperation between the government and the United States in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic was discussed. In particular, the parties shared information about the construction by the United States of new isolation centres at Suai and Baucau.[15] On 24 June 2022, Belo played a prominent role during a ceremony marking the arrival in East Timor of a mobile intensive care unit (ICU) donated by the American people as part of US$20 million provided to support East Timor's health security. She said that the ICU would be located at the Guido Valadares National Hospital (HNGV) in Dili, and that its first unit would be a 9-bed supplement to the 25 ICU beds with which the hospital was already equipped.[16]

On 5 October 2022, the Council of Ministers approved a proposal by Belo for the construction of a five-storey Paediatric and Coronary Intensive Care Unit at the HNGV. It was expected that the unit would improve specialised quality care for emergency and urgent paedriatic cases, and also the national response to emerging and sporadic outbreaks of diseases with major public health impacts, including dengue fever and cholera.[17]

The Prime Minister ceremonially laid the foundation stone for the new building on 26 January 2023. At the ceremony, Belo said that the facility would take two years to construct, and, when completed, would accommodate 327 beds, 81 midwives, and 163 nurses.[18][19]

Two weeks earlier, on 12 January 2023, Belo launched the National Integrated Routine Immunization Campaign, to be held in all municipalities, and target children under five years of age.[20][21]

Belo's tenure as Minister ended when the IX Constitutional Government took office on 1 July 2023. She was succeeded by Élia António de Araújo dos Reis Amaral.[22]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Minister's Profile". Ministry of Health (East Timor). Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  2. ^ a b Tempo Timor (14 April 2020). "Lahane hospital becomes medical facility for severe COVID-19 patients". Tempo Timor. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  3. ^ Colo, Cipriano (29 May 2020). "Eight New Members Sworn into TL Cabinet". Tatoli. Archived from the original on 3 June 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  4. ^ "Presidente timorense dá posse a oito novos membros do Governo" [Timorese President swears in eight new members of the Government]. RTP News (in Portuguese). Lusa. 29 May 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  5. ^ APR editor (8 April 2020). "'I lost my trust in her', Timor PM says of health minister sacking". Asia Pacific Report. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  6. ^ Sanchez, Hortencio; Martins, Evaristo Soares (1 May 2020). "PM Taur Nominates Five FRETILIN Members to Fill Vacant Ministries". Tatoli. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  7. ^ Colo, Cipriano; Pereira, Eugénio; Simōes, Francisco (1 June 2020). "Taur Matan Ruak Optimistic New Ministers Will "Strengthen" Government". Tatoli. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  8. ^ "Meeting to coordinate the implementation of Government projects and programs". Government of Timor-Leste. 9 June 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  9. ^ "Government holds meetings with UNICEF". Government of Timor-Leste. 16 June 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  10. ^ "Presidency of the Council of Ministers and Ministry of Health coordinate response to COVID-19". Government of Timor-Leste. 20 July 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  11. ^ "Minister of Health and Vice-Minister of the Interior coordinate the preparation of the contingency plan for COVID-19 prevention". Government of Timor-Leste. 22 July 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  12. ^ "Ministry of Health launches partnership with the World Health Organization and the European Union to mitigate the impacts of communicable diseases". Government of Timor-Leste. 18 January 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  13. ^ "Sem mortes, Timor-Leste cita poder das parcerias contra o coronavírus" [Without deaths, Timor-Leste cites the power of partnerships against the coronavirus]. UN News (in Portuguese). 5 March 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  14. ^ "Government, European Union and WHO sign agreement to strengthen the response to COVID-19 in five municipalities outside Dili". Government of Timor-Leste. 16 June 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  15. ^ Auxiliadora, Maria (3 May 2021). "United States and Ministry of Health Timor-Leste address new contribution to fight covid-19". Tatoli. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  16. ^ Sousa, Camilio de (24 June 2022). "The United States Government Boosts Timor-Leste's ICU Capacity by 150%". Tatoli. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  17. ^ Martins, Filomeno (5 October 2022). "Govt to build a five-story building for pediatric and CICU of HNGV". Tatoli. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  18. ^ "Ground-breaking ceremony for the New Paediatric and Coronary Intensive Care Unit of the Guido Valadares National Hospital". Government of Timor-Leste. 26 January 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  19. ^ Martins, Filomeno (26 January 2023). "Prime Minister lays foundation stone of new building for National Hospital". Tatoli. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  20. ^ "Ministry of Health launches National Integrated Immunization Campaign". Government of Timor-Leste. 12 January 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  21. ^ Martins, Filomeno (12 January 2023). "Timor-Leste launches national integrated vaccination campaign". Tatoli. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  22. ^ Martins, Filomeno (30 June 2023). "The list of structure of IX Constitutional Government announced in Official Gazette". Tatoli. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
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