Improving maternal health services requires money, of course. But it requires something even more vital: the personal and political will to save women’s lives and enable people in poverty to achieve their basic right to health.

Urgent Action is Needed to Promote the Health Rights of Poor Women

• Citizen voice must be informed and mobilized so people are able to express their views, demand their rights, and hold leaders accountable;
• Political commitment must mobilize the financial and human resources necessary to institute basic essential health services for the poor;
• High quality maternal health services must be accessible to all girls and women to prevent maternal deaths and disabilities; and,
• Fistula repair surgery must be available and accessible at no cost or at highly subsidized cost. Over 90 percent of fistulas can be repaired, yet significant numbers of girls and women living with fistula cannot access treatment due to distance and cost.

Women’s Dignity Supports Fistula Repairs
Through Women’s Dignity efforts and the achievements of the National Fistula Program in Tanzania (NFP), funding for fistula repairs is provided by the Government of Tanzania and a group of committed donors. Through the NFP, hospitals are reimbursed for the treatment provided to fistula patients, and funds are provided for the woman to return home after repair.

Between 2001 and 2007, the number of repairs provided each year in Tanzania jumped from 712 to 1,069. Women’s Dignity advocates internationally for the ethical obligation to ensure that fistula repairs are provided at no- charge or highly-subsidized rates so girls and women in poverty are able to access treatment.