Contributing as a private veterinarian/researcher Veterinarian
What is your area of animal health?
I am interested in veterinary public health and epidemiology as this has a unique importance to Timor-Leste. As a young country with considerable health challenges, I strongly believe that veterinary public health and epidemiology play key roles in protecting human health through controlling zoonotic diseases. I am also keen to apply veterinary public health and epidemiology skills to improve the livelihood of Timorese farmers who are reliant on subsistence livestock farming.
What is your role in the APCOVE project?
As part of the APCOVE team, my role involves coordinating APCOVE work in Timor-Leste. This includes facilitating an online survey, coordinating the stakeholder consultation, and providing a local perspective as part of the module teams for development of the online modules.
Why are you passionate about improving the skills of the Asia-Pacific animal health workforce?
There are growing challenges in the human and animal health sector in Timor-Leste and the region. To address these, I strongly believe that improving the skills of the animal health workforce is crucial to ensuring that they effectively exercise their responsibilities to protect the health and wellbeing of humans and animals. In a country like Timor-Leste where the animal health workforce is under-resourced, improving the skills of the existing animal health professionals, particularly in key skills such as surveillance, outbreak investigation and animal disease control, is important to developing timely and appropriate responses to the disease threat to both human and animal health.
