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2025 was the year the comfortable illusions of global health shattered. The U.S. withdrawal from WHO, the dismantling of USAID, and controversial bilateral agreements exposed uncomfortable truths about power, dependency, and who really benefits from "global health partnerships."

In this special year-end episode, we hear from global health leaders across the world reflecting on what 2025 revealed and where we're heading in 2026.

Featuring perspectives from:

• Dr. Luchuo Bain on why this is "the end of global health as we knew it—and the opening we needed."
• Dr. Seye Abimbola on being "surprised by how surprised people have been" about global health as foreign policy
• Dr. Boghuma Titanji on reimagining sustainable health financing after devastating aid cuts
• Dr. Madhu Pai on why we can't save global health without saving democracy
• Dr. Mohamed Aburawi on moving from intention to infrastructure
• Sitawa Wafula on AI's unregulated role in mental health care

We examine the human toll of USAID cuts, the sovereignty concerns around bilateral agreements, and the glimmers of agency emerging as countries like Nigeria and South Africa step up with domestic funding.

This isn't just a year in review; it's a reckoning with what global health has been and what it must become.

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This is a continuation of our previous episode with Emilie Koum Besson discussing the various forms of aid dependency. In this episode, we focus on the relationship between aid and dependency as well as pragmatic solutions.

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For decades, global health has treated aid dependency as a neutral, technical condition, something to measure and manage. But what if dependency is actually a feature of the system, not a bug? Emilie Koum Besson introduces a "Matrix of Dependency Dimensions," revealing eight distinct forms, ranging from historical and epistemic to what she calls "hidden co-dependency," in which elites in both the North and the South benefit from the status quo. She challenges the sustainability-versus-dependency binary, explains when aid shifts from catalytic to excessive, and argues that 2025's rhetorical shift toward sovereignty won't matter without dismantling the actual architecture of global health financing.

To support us, consider becoming a paid subscriber on Patreon or making a one-time donation via PayPal.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: globalhealthunfiltered.com

Follow us on X (@unfiltered_gh), LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok.