Sarmento Nevio, Soares da Silva Endang, Barreto Ismael, Ximenes João C, Angelina Julia M, Correia Dircia M, Babo Silvia M, Tilman Ari Jayanti P, Salles de Sousa Antonio, Hornay Elisabeth, Ico Lourenço C, Machado Filipe de Neri, Niha Maria Varela, Ballard Susan, Lin Chantel, Howden Benjamin, Baird Rob, Wapling Johanna, Alves Lucsendar, Oakley Tessa, Marr Ian, Draper Anthony D K, Arkell Paul, Smith-Vaughan Heidi, Fancourt Nicholas S S, Yan Jennifer, Francis Joshua R
Global and Tropical Health Division, Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Dili, Timor-Leste.
Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory, National Health Laboratory, Dili, Timor-Leste.
Lancet Reg Health Southeast Asia. 2023 Apr;11:100150. doi: 10.1016/j.lansea.2023.100150. Epub 2023 Jan 13.
Timor-Leste is a small nation of 1.3 million people which shares a land border with Indonesia and is 550 km from Darwin, Australia. It is one of the poorest nations in Asia. The National Health Laboratory (NHL) and its network of smaller laboratories in Timor-Leste had limited capacity to perform molecular diagnostic testing before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic began. With the support of international development partners, the NHL rapidly expanded its molecular testing service. From March 2020 to February 2022, over 200,000 molecular tests were performed; COVID-19 testing sites were established in hospital and community health center laboratories and all 13 municipalities, and the number of scientists and technicians at the molecular diagnostic laboratory at the NHL increased from five to 28 between 2019 and 2022. Molecular diagnostic testing for COVID-19 was successfully established at the NHL and in the municipalities. The molecular diagnostic laboratory at NHL is now equipped to respond to not only large-scale COVID-19 testing but also laboratory detection of other infectious diseases, preparing Timor-Leste for future outbreaks or pandemics.
东帝汶是一个拥有130万人口的小国，与印度尼西亚接壤，距离澳大利亚达尔文市550公里。它是亚洲最贫穷的国家之一。在2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行开始之前，东帝汶国家卫生实验室（NHL）及其较小规模的实验室网络进行分子诊断检测的能力有限。在国际发展伙伴的支持下，NHL迅速扩大了其分子检测服务。从2020年3月到2022年2月，进行了超过20万次分子检测；在医院和社区卫生中心实验室以及所有13个市都设立了COVID-19检测点，2019年至2022年间，NHL分子诊断实验室的科学家和技术人员数量从5人增加到了28人。NHL和各市成功建立了COVID-19分子诊断检测。NHL的分子诊断实验室现在不仅有能力应对大规模的COVID-19检测，还能对其他传染病进行实验室检测，为东帝汶应对未来的疫情或大流行做好准备。
