East Timors Medics-video

101 East follows the doctors and patients at the heart of East Timor's health crisis. It is early morning at a clinic in the suburbs of Dili, the capital of East Timor. Already, hundreds of patients are waiting to see Dr Dan Murphy. The former general practitioner from America's Midwest came to this poor South East Asian nation 16 years ago.

"There is really no access to anything near adequate healthcare. In every category in health, their numbers are worse than most of South East Asia," he says.


Since East Timor gained independence from Indonesia more than a decade ago, improvements in people's standard of living have been marginal. Two-thirds of the population still live in poverty, according to the United Nations.

Murphy and his team have become experts in diseases that have been consigned to the history books in most developed countries. When five-year-old Paulo walks in with strange marks on his arms and face, Murphy knows leprosy might be the culprit.