# The Fragile Foundations of Global Health Data

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/givewell-conversations-7260294/the-fragile-foundations-of-global-health-data
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/givewell-conversations-7260294/the-fragile-foundations-of-global-health-data.md
Podcast: [GiveWell Conversations](https://stenobird.com/podcast/givewell-conversations-7260294)
Published: 2025-08-21T21:20:30+00:00
Episode link: https://share.transistor.fm/s/9d6054af
Audio file: https://media.transistor.fm/9d6054af/1f8d5c5c.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/givewell-conversations-7260294/episodes/the-fragile-foundations-of-global-health-data
Duration seconds: 1531

## Resource

GiveWell’s ability to find and fund highly cost-effective health programs relies on a foundation of credible data. A key source of that data, the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), recently had its primary funding from USAID discontinued. This creates the potential of a significant challenge for GiveWell’s research—and for evidence-based grantmaking across the global health sector. In this episode, GiveWell CEO and co-founder Elie Hassenfeld speaks with Senior Researcher Adam Salisbury to explore the implications of this funding gap. They discuss how the DHS program works, why it’s essential for informed decision-making, and how GiveWell is responding to the growing limitations of public health data. Elie and Adam discuss: The surprising source of global health data: In many countries where GiveWell works, basic health metrics like child mortality rates aren’t comprehensively tracked in official registries. The DHS program fills this data gap by conducting vast, in-person surveys that ask women to recall their children’s birth and survival histories. This method provides the primary data for mortality estimates in low- and middle-income countries. Why good data is difficult to get: The DHS is resource-intensive, costing tens of millions of dollars per year to administer in-person, house-to-house surveys across more than 50 countries. Enumerators must travel to remote areas where unreliable internet and postal systems necessitate this approach. The logistical complexity and high cost are primary reasons the surveys in any given country often happen only once every five years. GiveWell’s approach to repairing data gaps: With USAID funding discontinued, GiveWell is considering whether to support these surveys directly, coordinating with other global health partners who…

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/givewell-conversations-7260294/episodes/the-fragile-foundations-of-global-health-data/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/givewell-conversations-7260294/the-fragile-foundations-of-global-health-data.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.