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AVAC Advocates' Network Logo January 30, 2026
Global Health Watch is a weekly newsletter breaking down critical developments in US policies and their impact on global health. Tailored for our partners in the US and around the world, this resource offers a concise analysis of the week’s events, supporting advocates to respond to threats, challenges and opportunities in this critical period of change in global health. 

As this issue goes to publication, the US fiscal year (FY26) budget remains unresolved in the Senate, adding to uncertainty for global health funding. A short-term funding deal reached last night would delay, but not resolve, a potential government shutdown, as negotiations over the administration’s deadly mass deportation efforts continue. For global health programs already under strain, this limbo continues to carry serious consequences. This week’s issue tracks the expansion of the Global Gag Rule under the new “Promoting Human Flourishing in Foreign Assistance” (PHFFA) policy, the US’s formal withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO), growing pushback on concerning vaccine policy, and the new finding that nearly half of US CDC surveillance databases have been paused or stopped.


** Weaponizing Foreign Aid with the Expanded Global Gag Rule
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Last Friday, the US administration expanded the harmful Global Gag Rule ([link removed]) (GGR), also known as the Mexico City Policy, under a new Promoting Human Flourishing in Foreign Assistance ([link removed]) policy, which broadens restrictions on US foreign aid. Originally enacted in 1984, the GGR barred non-US organizations receiving funding for global health from providing or promoting abortion services (even with their own, separate resources). Each Republican president enforced the GGR, while each Democratic president rescinded it. Now, this administration’s restrictions are being drastically expanded and extend to programs that engage in what the administration labels “gender ideology” and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. It now applies not only to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) based abroad, but US NGOs, multilateral organizations and direct aid to foreign
governments. Many organizations, including AVAC ([link removed]) , Global Health Council ([link removed]) , PAI ([link removed]) , Planned Parenthood, ([link removed]) Health GAP ([link removed]) , and others called for the immediate rejection of the policy as weaponizing US foreign assistance and imposing political ideology at the expense of improving global health and international cooperation.

IMPLICATIONS: As this Think Global Health editorial ([link removed]) from Stephanie Psaki states, “PHFFA applies not just to global health funding but to all non-military US foreign assistance, approximately $30 billion annually—or 50 times more than what was covered by the original Mexico City Policy… At best, the rules will waste US taxpayer dollars and impede the administration's ability to implement its America First Global Health Strategy ([link removed]) . At worst, the policy will cost lives, stall progress against key global health challenges including HIV/AIDS, and further damage US credibility with key partners—particularly across Africa.” Our colleagues at KFF, provide a very useful analysis of this latest expansion here ([link removed])
.

READ:
* Trump expands policy banning aid to groups abroad that discuss or provide abortions ([link removed]) —NPR
* The Trump Administration's Latest Expansion of the Mexico City Policy: A Funding Analysis ([link removed]) —KFF
* Latest US Restrictions On Aid 'Bully' Recipients To Accept 'Extremist Ideology' ([link removed]) —Health Policy Watch
* New US funding rules tie aid to abortion, gender ideology, DEI bans ([link removed]) —Devex
* Expanding the Mexico City Policy Undermines Global Health ([link removed]) —Think Global Health


** US Formally Notifies WHO of its Withdrawal
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As this issue was going to publication last week, the US formally notified the World Health Organization (WHO) of its decision to withdraw. This triggered responses from WHO and the United Nations noting that the US was a founding member in 1948 and a central partner in major global health gains ever since, and warning that the US departure makes the US and the world less safe.

IMPLICATIONS: The US withdrawal from the WHO underscores a deeper shift in global health governance where health is a bargaining chip for a new imperialistic ideology around foreign policy and national interest. This move heightens, rather than diminishes, the importance of multilateral cooperation. As Chatham House Fellow, Ebere Okereke, writes in Think Global Health ([link removed]) , the “US withdrawal from the WHO increased the relevance of multilateral cooperation for Africa. The WHO remains the primary source of global health norms and coordination, even in its weakened state. Disengagement would leave African countries more exposed to power-based bargaining during crises.”

READ:
* WHO statement on notification of withdrawal of the United States ([link removed]) —World Health Organization
* US withdrawal from WHO ‘risks global safety’, agency says in detailed rebuttal ([link removed]) —United Nations
* Joint Statement by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr ([link removed]) .—US Department of State
* What U.S. Withdrawal From the World Health Organization Means for Africa ([link removed]) —Think Global Health
* As the U.S. bids adieu to the World Health Organization, California says hello ([link removed]) —NPR
* The Trump administration says it won't pay what it owes WHO ([link removed]) —Devex
* Withdrawing From the WHO: America Is Not First in Isolation ([link removed]) —Medscape


** American Academy of Pediatrics Issues its Own Immunization Schedule
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As US policy shifts and vaccine mis- and dis-information fuels mistrust and confusion—including this week’s chair of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) shockingly questioning longstanding recommendations for polio vaccination—many organizations are stepping up to defend vaccine science and evidence. The American Academy of Pediatrics issued its own 2026 immunization schedule ([link removed]) , continuing to recommend routine vaccination against 18 diseases, a broader program of vaccine protection than the new schedule of vaccines released by the US administration a few weeks ago. The AAP’s recommendations are backed by numerous professional groups including the American Medical Association and National Medical Association. The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) also launched an effort to boost
evidence-based vaccine information by partnering with communicators and rapid-response teams to counter misinformation and clarify vaccine safety and effectiveness.

IMPLICATIONS: The AAP’s decision to publish its own comprehensive vaccine schedule, and the broad coalition endorsing it, signals a powerful pushback and commitment to evidence over ideology. This mixed guidance with the medical and scientific community differing from federal recommendations will continue to erode trust and will undermine routine immunization and confidence in public health, ultimately threatening the gains achieved against vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, influenza, and polio.

READ:
* American Academy of Pediatrics departs from CDC with childhood vaccine revisions ([link removed]) —The Hill
* CIDRAP launches new effort to boost evidence-based vaccine information ([link removed]) —CIDRAP
* Rejecting Decades of Science, Vaccine Panel Chair Says Polio and Other Shots Should Be Optional ([link removed]) —New York Times


** Nearly Half of US CDC Surveillance Databases Stopped Updating
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New research ([link removed]) published in the Annals of Internal Medicine shows that nearly half of US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data systems have been paused. Of 82 databases meant to update monthly, 46% show unexplained pauses, most lasting six months or more, and of those paused, approximately 87% track vaccinations.

IMPLICATIONS: As Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) CEO Jeanne Marrazzo writes in an accompanying editorial ([link removed]) , “Until the United States restores the CDC and its partner agencies to their former stature, we are not only flying blind in the face of emerging and reemerging threats to human health and well-being—we are being deprived of effective weaponry.”

READ:
* CDC Stopped Updating Key Vaccine, Infectious Disease Databases in 2025 ([link removed]) —Medpage Today
* Nearly Half of Once Frequently Updated CDC Databases Are Now Outdated ([link removed]) —The Scientist

What We're Reading

• The anti-HIV jab Buhle trusts — and 456 000 South Africans can soon get for free ([link removed]) —Bhekisisa
• Transformative’ HIV PrEP shot slowly overcomes cost hurdles ([link removed]) —The Hill
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One year after US aid freeze, HIV care in Africa is in retreat ([link removed]) —Devex
• Zambia US Talks Tie Medical Aid to Mining ([link removed]) —Lusaka Times
• US gives 5 weeks for 5-Year Aid Plans ([link removed]) —To End A Plague…Again Substack
• US loses Gavi board seat after withholding funding ([link removed]) —Devex
• US Freezes All Funds to Gavi Over Vaccine Preservative Thimerosal ([link removed]) —Health Policy Watch
• Pandemic Agreement on Hold: Can Countries Bridge the Divide on Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing ([link removed]) —Health Policy Watch
• Lessons From William H. Foege, A Global Health Legend ([link removed]) —Forbes
• Kennedy Plan to Test a Vaccine in West African Babies Is Blocked ([link removed]) —New York Times
• Trump and allies at odds over COVID shots ([link removed]) —Axios

In solidarity,

AVAC
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AVAC Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention
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