Published In
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Publication Date
2-25-2026
Abstract
t ’ s I n o w b een more than a year since President Trump’s dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which led to the closure of its Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) Program. In place for decades, the DHS Program produced and shared, free of charge, some of the highest-quality data on population health in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Our own analysis found at least 9,000 published studies, reports, and book chapters based on more than 400 DHS surveys in almost 100 countries (Fig. 1).* And the DHS has been instrumental in improving the evidence base for health policies and interventions, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and Central and Southern Asia (Fig. 2). The loss of its data infrastructure is widely perceived as a threat to health and development progress and the regular monitoring of population health and wellbeing of the most vulnerable populations of the world (1–3).
Rights
Copyright (c) 2026 The Authors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
DOI
10.1073/pnas.2513242123
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/44563
Publisher
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Citation Details
Abdel Ghany, J., Nur, A. A., MacQuarrie, K. L. D., Wilde, J., Sully, E. A., Karra, M., Gazeley, U., John, B. M., & Montana, L. (2026). In the wake of USAID cuts, we can create a Demographic and Health Survey Program founded on more equitable data infrastructure and stronger research integrity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 123(9).