Dr Ezequiel Antonio de Deus Gomes, known as Dr Zeki, is a medical doctor and public health professional from Timor-Leste. As Senior MERL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning) Coordinator with Misaun Lepra Timor-Leste, he uses data and research to help improve leprosy programs, identifying what’s working, where people are still being missed and how care can improve.
“When I analyse data honestly, I honour God.”
For Dr Zeki, collecting accurate data isn’t just good practice. It helps health workers see where people are receiving care, where services need to improve and where resources should be focused.
Behind every number is a person: someone receiving a diagnosis, completing treatment or living in a community where cases are still going undetected.
Leprosy is curable, but delayed diagnosis can lead to nerve damage, permanent disability and continued transmission. Stigma may discourage people from seeking help, while distance and limited access to trained health workers can make some communities difficult to reach.
In this setting, a missed case is more than an incomplete record. It may be a person left without treatment, a family without answers or a community where transmission continues unseen.
He examines whether services are reaching the right places, whether patients are completing treatment and where disability is still occurring. That evidence helps identify gaps, guide resources and strengthen the way organisations work alongside communities and the national health system.
For Dr Zeki, good intentions aren’t enough. Compassion needs discipline. Ambition needs evidence. Programs need reliable data to show they’re reaching the people who need them most.
His expertise extends beyond Timor-Leste. He contributes to The Leprosy Mission Global Fellowship, collaborates with the Ministry of Health on program development and has co-led research presented at the 2025 International Leprosy Congress in Bali.
He is candid about the pressure of managing data, leading evaluations, supporting healthcare professionals and meeting competing expectations. His faith doesn’t remove those pressures, but it shapes the way he approaches them.
“When I help project managers plan carefully, I become a good steward,” he writes. “When I support vulnerable communities, I follow the heart of Jesus.”
Away from the demands of public health, he values time with his family, mentors young professionals and occasionally plays piano at church.
“I may not change everything,” Dr Zeki says, “but I can be faithful in what God has entrusted to me.”
At Still a Thing Conference 2026, held at Ridley College in Parkville, Melbourne, Dr Zeki will share how faith, evidence and local leadership can strengthen the fight against leprosy.
On Friday 14 August, Dr Zeki will present Timor Spotlight: Partnership for Transformation, drawing on his experience of public health, leprosy work and locally led change. He will also contribute to Saturday’s Big Conversation, exploring where Christians are most needed and how development can create thoughtful, responsible and lasting change.
Learn more about Still a Thing Conference 2026.
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