When Health Data Go Dark: A Call to Restore DHS Program Funding

The suspension and threatened closure of USAID has severe short- and long-term negative impacts on the health of people worldwide. We draw attention to a consequence of the new US administration's actions on our ability to understand the levels and changes in population health outcomes and behaviours. This is through co-financing and provision of technical support to the DHS Program, which includes nationally-representative surveys of households (Demographic and Health Surveys [DHS], Malaria Indicator Surveys [MIS]) and health facilities (Service Provision Assessments) in over 90 low- and middle-income countries. The impact of these disruptions will reverberate across local, regional, national, and global levels. We highlight three such impacts: 1) to ongoing data collection and data processing activities; 2) to future data collection and consequent lack of population-level health indicators; and 3) to access to existing data and lack of support for its use. We call for restoration of universal access to existing data and continued operation of the DHS Program website. In the short term, we call for all the work which was already in progress in 25 countries to continue. In the long term, while DHS Program funding should be restored, this crisis could serve as a tipping point for transforming these vital surveys. We urgently call on the current US administration and global leaders to restore DHS Program funding and bring critical health data back to light.