Young children in East Timor
This little boy at Delsos Clinic in East Timor is being given a special drink called a food supplement to make his body grow stronger.

The picture was taken when there was a lot of fighting in East Timor. CAFOD funded food supplements as part of an emergency response to help the people.

Tuberculosis
The doctor said that this little boy had a disease called Tuberculosis or 'TB', which affects the lungs. TB can kill – half the children who catch TB will die from it – so it is very important that people are treated quickly.

In East Timor TB is very common and about 4,000 people are infected there every year. Children with TB need to be careful about their diet, such as not eating banana leaves, and eating rice with vegetables but not with fish.

Helping sick children
Through its partners, CAFOD has been helping to fund East Timor’s National TB Programme since the year 2000. Now there are 30 clinics caring for people all over the country.

There are guest houses at some clinics where people can stay during part of their treatment. During the next 3 years health posts will be set up in remote areas to reach the people who cannot travel to the clinics.

Every year nearly 11 million children die before their fifth birthday. Very poor people are much more likely to die from illness than are rich people.

Poor people are often weak because they do not eat enough food and work very hard. Children become ill more often than adults because they are smaller.

FACT: Every year nearly 11 million children in the world die under the age of five.

Photography: Sean Sprague