Goma's Fallout, Africa Post-USAID, and Household Air Pollution
March 21, 2025
Editors' Note
On Tuesday, a U.S. District Court judge said the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) likely violated the Constitution. Although the order blocks Senior Advisor Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency from making more cuts, it does not reinstate the agency or its staff.
Continuing our coverage of life after USAID, TGH's Allison Krugman speaks with aid workers in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo about how the resurgent conflict over mining, combined with the loss of U.S. aid, has disrupted health-care services, deepened food insecurity, and fueled disease outbreaks. Some say the U.S. retreat from the global stage likely motivated the rebels' decision to advance on Goma, underscoring policymakers' influential role in advocating for the region's peace.
A group of authors led by Harvard University medical student Faraan Rahim continues the USAID discussion, penning a guide for how the region can sustain progress on infectious-disease response, economic and developmental stability, and institutional growth without U.S. assistance.
The edition then turns to the air people breathe. NASA FINESST Fellow Fiona Bennitt and the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation's Michael Brauer discuss global findings from their new Lancet study on household air pollution (HAP), a leading cause for noncommunicable diseases and early death. Although the global population exposed to HAP has fallen since 1990, several intense hot spots remain in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of South Asia—and could be remedied with gas stoves.
To wrap up this edition, Every Breath Counts Coalition's Leith Greenslade describes how low- or middle-income country (LMIC) governments can reduce worldwide inequities in accessing medical oxygen. Greenslade opines that by using the lapse in U.S. support to reprioritize their health spending, LMICs can take back control of their health systems and usher in a new global health era.
If you want to stay on top of the latest trends in global health, Think Global Health is now on BlueSky @thinkglobalhealth.org!
Until next week!—Nsikan Akpan, Managing Editor, and Caroline Kantis, Associate Editor
