A new opinion piece in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) argues that recent cuts to the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) Program have created a profound crisis in global population data — but also an opportunity to rebuild a more equitable and sustainable system.
The article, led by Dr Jasmin Abdel Ghany (Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science) with co-authors including Aasli Abdi Nur, Joshua Wilde and Ursula Gazeley (also LCDS), examines the consequences of the termination of USAID funding for the DHS Program — long considered one of the most important sources of population and health data in low- and middle-income countries.
For decades, DHS surveys provided free, standardized, high-quality data across nearly 100 countries. The authors’ analysis shows that more than 9,000 studies have relied on DHS data since 1984. Governments, UN agencies, the World Bank, and countless researchers have depended on the surveys to monitor maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS, malaria, fertility, nutrition, and other key indicators.
The abrupt collapse in USAID funding has placed this data infrastructure in jeopardy. While a temporary three-year grant from the Gates Foundation has allowed limited continuation, the long-term future of the program remains uncertain. The authors warn that without coordinated action, low- and middle-income countries could face a “dark age” for population and health data.
However, the authors contend that the collapse in USAID support, while regrettable, presents a long-overdue opportunity to reform the DHS model.
Rather than simply restoring the previous model, the authors argue for rebuilding the DHS as a truly global public good: country-led, more cost-effective, and less dependent on a single funder. They call for shifting leadership and ownership to institutions in low- and middle-income countries, ensuring open and decentralized data access, and creating redundant but coordinated global data repositories to safeguard long-term availability.
Dr Abdel Ghany explains: “Global health progress depends on stable, harmonized, and accessible data systems. The research community needs to invest in such data systems and rethink their infrastructure critically to make them sustainable and equitable.”
She adds: “This historic rupture in demographic data infrastructure must be met with intensified cross-national collaboration on data access. We need to rethink DHS governance to preserve it as a true global public good.”
The authors also emphasize the importance of research integrity. Informal data sharing, while well-intentioned, risks undermining reproducibility and country ownership. The authors call for making DHS data available on multiple, but coordinated notes to ensure stable access, and urge researchers to forge collaborations, particularly between researchers based in low- and middle-income countries and high-income countries, to harmonize data and share code openly.
The piece concludes with a clear message: Equity and accessibility must guide the rebuilding of global demographic data systems. Only then can countries be empowered to monitor and achieve their health and development goals.
Reference
Abdel Ghany, J., Nur, A. A., MacQuarrie, K. L. D., Wilde, J. K., 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 of the United States of America (Opinion). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2513242123
