Bairo Pite Clinic (BPC) or Bairo Pite Clinic Lanud is a non-government, not-for profit organisation located in the capital city of Dili, 450km away from Darwin, Australia. BPC provides free healthcare services to the people of Timor-Leste, our closest neighbors and one of the poorest countries in the world. Their objective is to support and enhance the delivery of healthcare to Timorese people.
“To raise much needed resources to contribute towards healthcare in Timor-Leste that is equal to the high quality of care in the West.” – Dan Murphy
BPC is heavily dependent on the commitment and charitable donations of individuals and organisations across the globe. Melbourne-based team, Together for Bairo Pite Clinic (T4BPC) collaborated shortly after the Foreign Correspondence program broadcast ‘The Clinic’ on ABC, 12 August 2014, which highlighted the struggle to meet basic health needs of the Timorese people. Compelled to support and raise much needed resources and awareness, T4BPC share in Dr Murphy’s vision “to raise much needed resources to contribute towards healthcare in Timor-Leste that is equal to the high quality of care in the West”.
East Timor The Clinic – Video
As doctors and healthcare workers continue the challenge of treating preventable diseases in East Timor, Foreign Correspondent reporter Sophie McNeill spends time in Dili’s Bairo Pite Clinic, with an inspiring medical team providing free health care services to thousands. Diseases such as leprosy, tuberculosis, heart failure, severe malnutrition, and infant diarrhoea are common and widespread – and over 50% of children under the age of five are said to be underweight and stunted for their age. Meanwhile, deaths in childbirth are among the highest in the whole of Asia. Meet team leader Dr. Dan, who came from the U.S, set up the clinic, and decided to stay.
Bairo Pite Clinic Overview
American born, founder and Medical Director of Bairo Pite Clinic, Dr Dan Murphy arrived in Timor- Leste in 1998 to a country torn apart by bloodshed and violence. After the Indonesian militia’s withdrawal, Dr Dan set up a makeshift clinic for the thousands of returning refugees suffering from the injuries of war, dysentery, starvation, tuberculosis, malaria and malnutrition. Since then, thanks to the support of volunteer doctors and medical personnel and the significant financial contributions from individuals and organisations around the world, the Bairo Pite Clinic survived. It evolved from being an emergency medical centre to a comprehensive community healthcare service.
Today, Dr Dan:
- Leads a team of 70 Timorese staff and volunteers,
- Trains medical students, nurses, midwives and lay- midwives for remote villages.
- Assists an average of 200 outpatients per day,
- Delivers more than 110 babies per month,
- Conducts more than 400 mobile clinics providing 15,000 regional consultations across 11 villages each year.
In contrast to the incredible accomplishments made thus far, infant mortality is 300 times higher than Australia, 1 in 2 children are significantly malnourished, endemic proportions of Tuberculosis exist and pain relief for Cancer patients is rationed.