[1]: 28 [2] Timor-Leste also has five other referral hospitals covering secondary health care needs;[3]: 10 these are able to carry out some surgical procedures, including appendectomies and caesarean section deliveries.
[5]: 2 [6] However, not all of the tertiary care organised for East Timorese patients is carried out at HNGV; most such care is administered overseas, under a limited number of overseas referrals.
[7] According to Júlio Sarmento da Costa (also known by his nom de guerre Meta Mali), who was appointed Minister for the Affairs of National Liberation Combatants in May 2020 [translation]: "Many seriously ill people including veterans have to be referred to overseas hospitals to have their health checked because in Timor Leste there is no international standard hospital including Guido Valadares National Hospital (HNGV)".
[8]Meta Mali went on to observe that the government through the Ministry of Health is therefore forced to spend a lot of money to pay for aeroplanes, hospital fees and accommodation costs for the safety of its people.
Integrated Community Health Service) (SISCa) outposts serving villages and sucos to which access was difficult.