HIAM Health is a Non Government Organisation (NGO) based in Dili East Timor (Timor Leste) working to create a future for this struggling nation in the way of education, rehabilitation and prevention of malnutrition.

Our latest initiatives

November 2011: Read about our current projects including our new horticultural education program and our new malnutrition education program for influential village women:

• PDF version - best for on-screen viewing and printing (34 MB)
• Microsoft PowerPoint presentation (15.7 MB)

Timor-Leste (TL) Facts

• Timor-Leste is approximately 60 minutes from Darwin, Australia by plane.
• It has a population of around 1 million.
• Over 50 percent of children under five are malnourished. (Ministry of Health (MoH) statistics May 2008).
• Approximately 100,000 children under five are malnourished and hungry.

Life expectancy for women is as low as 54 years of age in some districts. - TL census 2004

Infant mortality rate (IMR) is as high as 111 per 1000 births in some districts. - TL census 2004

In 2000, world leaders devised eight goals to improve the health and welfare of men, woman and children living in developing nations.

Global Facts

One child dies every six seconds from hunger and related causes.
Every day, around 30,000 children die mostly from preventable causes.
Under nutrition is responsible for more than half the approximately 10 million deaths that occur in children under five in developing nations.

Nearly 150 million children under the age of five in developing nations are under weight for their age. Two thirds of these children are in Asia.

Eradicating hunger, part of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) No.1, is the key to development. While people are hungry, all other development activities are thwarted. The hungry can concentrate on little other than their next meal. Hungry mothers give birth to hungry children, who, if they live long enough, grow into hungry adults. World Food Program report 2009

Malnutrition means 'badly nourished', but is more than a measure of what we eat or fail to eat. Malnutrition is characterised by inadequate intake of protein, energy and micronutrients and by frequent infections and diseases. Starved of the right nutrition, people will die from common infections like measles or diarrhoea. Malnutrition is measured not by how much food is eaten but by physical measurements of the body - weight to height - and age.

Although the proportion of hungry people in the world has declined over the past few years, the actual number of undernourished people has been rising for the past decade – mainly due to population growth and demand from the developing world. World Food Program report 2009

Malnourished children are more frequently sick. Malnourished children suffer life long term consequences of impaired development. Nutrition is the foundation for health and development. Better nutrition means stronger immune system, less illness and better health for people of all ages. The first two years of life are the “window of opportunity” to prevent early childhood undernutrition that causes largely irreversible damage. World Food Program focuses on the earliest phase of life, i.e. from conception (-9 months) to 24 months of age, providing essential nutrients including vitamins and minerals.

The Millennium Development Goals  - World Food Program report 2009

• Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
• Achieve universal primary education
• Promote gender equality and empower women
• Reduce child mortality
• Improve maternal health
• Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
• Ensure environmental sustainability
• Develop a global partnership for development

The health of children under five in Timor Leste has deteriorated since these goals were introduced. HIAM Health has developed programs to change this fact.

For information on the world food Insecurity Food & Agriculture Organisation click here.

For information on Micro Nutrients click here.