This episode of Global Health Unfiltered examines what the upheavals of 2025 revealed about power, dependency, and accountability in global health. Through reflections from Dr. Luchuo Bain, Dr. Seye Abimbola, Dr. Boghuma Titanji, Dr. Madhu Pai, Dr. Mohamed Aburawi, and Sitawa Wafula, the episode considers the consequences of the United States’ withdrawal from the World Health Organization, the dismantling of USAID, and the emergence of controversial bilateral agreements.
The contributors explore the human consequences of abrupt aid cuts, the relationship between global health and foreign policy, the need for sustainable health financing, and concerns about national sovereignty within externally structured partnerships. The discussion also connects the future of global health to democratic governance, institutional infrastructure, and the growing but insufficiently regulated role of artificial intelligence in mental health care. Examples of increased domestic financing in Nigeria and South Africa offer tentative signs of greater national agency.
For global health professionals and students, this episode provides a critical entry point to debates over whether the disruptions of 2025 represent only a financing crisis or a deeper reckoning with the structures, assumptions, and power relations that have shaped global health cooperation.
Check out the podcast here: Unmasking Global Health: Reflections on 2025