The United Nations, governments and aid agencies are scrambling to save one of the world's largest public-health databases from extinction. In February, the US government cut all funding for the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) programme, which collects and publishes data on health, nutrition and gender equality in more than 90 countries. The termination was a result of the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which had supported the DHS programme for some 40 years, including a five-year, US$236-million grant awarded last year. The surveys collect data on HIV, childhood and maternal mortality, malaria, tuberculosis and other health topics. With around 345,000 citations on Google Scholar, it is the most-cited international household survey programme in the world, says Joao Pedro Azevedo, chief statistician at UNICEF, the United Nations children's fund, based in New York City. The data are also used to track health-related indicators supporting the...
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