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Our Impact
Change happens at every level. Patients access care with dignity. Health workers are better equipped to deliver quality care. Communities hold systems accountable in ways they couldn’t before.
Results on the ground
We’ve shown that learning from patients’ lived experiences can drive nationwide policy reforms and reshape how services are delivered.
Maternal and newborn health
Institutional births rose 26% at Matimba-supported health facilities in the two years after we expanded into Inhambane, more than double the increase elsewhere in the province over the same period.
HIV and TB care
Breaches of privacy, disrespectful treatment, staff absenteeism, lack of information, shortage of medicines and supplies — these are the barriers that push HIV and TB patients out of care. Our health advocates work alongside health workers and communities to address each one, resolving 84% of the cases they take on.
Patient privacy and dignity
Together with Inhambane Province health leadership, Matimba launched a humanization initiative across 144 facilities — with tangible results in just 18 months.
“People used to think doctors were the only ones with power. The most vulnerable weren’t able to speak up or participate in their own health, and they simply stayed away. But together we learned that many challenges — like long delays and lack of privacy — were relatively easy to overcome.”
Dr. Arlindo Romão, Director, Chicuque Rural Hospital
"I was nine months pregnant. When I got to the hospital, the nurse told me I had to pay 1,000 meticais. I didn’t have the money, so she left me alone in the birthing room. When she finally came, my baby had already died."
Else, Maternity Patient
"Our hospital used to be infamous for bribery and illegal fees. In the past health workers didn’t really regard patients as individuals with rights. They acted as though they were doing patients a favor. But we’ve seen a huge change. Now everyone knows that illegal charges aren’t accepted here."
Dr. Osório Trigo, Director, Quissico Rural Hospital
When we began this work in late 2012, health rights were not on the national agenda in Mozambique. Entrenched power imbalances between patients and providers had created a culture of silence. Healthcare was seen as a gift, not a right.
That is changing. Health rights are now part of the national conversation. This shift has influenced national policy, mobilized donor investment, and strengthened a broader culture of civic participation and accountability.
The progress is visible. Hundreds of thousands of people now know their rights and feel confident speaking up when care falls short. Village health committees — once limited to vaccination and bednet campaigns, patient follow-up, and keeping facility grounds clean — now identify barriers to care and advocate for solutions. They take part in health planning and budgeting, and health leadership sees them as a critical voice.
The Ministry of Health has institutionalized approaches that this work helped pioneer and is working toward formal legal recognition of health advocates nationwide. More than 80 community-based organizations are now working across the country to hold the health system accountable and advance the rights of the people they serve.
Yet the scale of the challenge demands sustained commitment. Our work won’t be done until every person in Mozambique receives dignified care, regardless of where they live or who they are.
THE FUTURE WE’RE BUILDING
Health systems where dignity and accountability
drive better outcomes
- Patients shape the system. What patients experience keeps informing how care is planned, delivered and governed, from local clinics to national policy.
- People seek care, and stay in care. When people are respected and well informed, they trust the health system. They come to clinics sooner, stay on treatment and keep coming back.
- Dignity is the standard. Patients’ rights and accountability are built into government policy, budgets and health worker training, so everyone is treated with respect at every clinic.
- A national movement for health justice. Communities, health workers and government leaders across Mozambique work together to make quality, rights-based care the norm.
- A growing regional network. Partners across sub-Saharan Africa learn from each other, create tools together and build a shared body of evidence on what works.
- Commitment that lasts. Governments, donors and partners put money and institutional backing behind dignity and accountability, and treat them as essential to improved health.