The world as we know it is about to change.

A rapidly intensifying crisis in global health funding is pushing the world toward a tipping point with devastating consequences, and we can’t say we didn’t see it coming. As entire populations are being erased by bombs in the Middle East, microplastics invade our oceans, and forced migration surges to unprecedented levels, global health systems are being stretched beyond their limits. Yet international funding for health, one of our first lines of defense against both disease and disorder, is stagnating or shrinking.

The global community has now to make a choice:

act boldly to reverse this downward spiral, or face a future marked by rising mortality, fractured societies, and growing instability.

Underfunding global health is a global risk

Recently published research focused on the impact of USAID funding over the last two decades and forecast our future if we don’t do something now.

These studies use advanced modelling to show that critical programs targeting HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, child mortality, and malnutrition could regress dramatically under current funding trends. Or even a modest drop in funding now could translate into millions of preventable deaths and decades of lost progress.

But this “financial” crisis extends beyond disease burden alone. It is intertwined with urgent global threats of today, from war and climate change to the erosion of gender rights (and right-wing rising), and it is reshaping the fabric of global society.

Conflict, displacement, and health systems

Ongoing conflicts in regions such as Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine have not only claimed lives directly, but have also cut down health infrastructures, displaced millions, and triggered severe humanitarian crises. Refugees and internally displaced persons are often left without access to even the most basic health services, an immediate consequence? Straining neighboring countries’ health systems.

Migration linked to war, poverty, and climate collapse is also increasing. As people are forced out from their homes by violence or unlivable conditions, among which there is a large proportion of women and gender-diverse folks, facing higher risks of disease, mental health trauma, food insecurity, and gender-based violence. Receiving countries, often under-resourced themselves, are struggling to keep up.

So, who face the hardest impact?

Women and gender-diverse people are disproportionately affected by the global health funding shortfall. In times of crisis and austerity, services related to sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR), maternal care, and gender-based violence prevention are often the first to be cut. As patriarchal cis-tems become more deep-rooted under stress, the result is a marked evidencing of structural discrimination and a sharp intensification in violence against women and queer populations.

This rollback of essential services is putting lives at risk while eroding hard-won progress in equality, justice, and basic human rights. This is an issue that must not be seen as a collateral, it is central to the global health crisis.

The price we pay is high for all

What happens in one part of the world echoes globally, whether we like it or not. Reduced funding for health initiatives leads to increased disease transmission, greater regional instability, economic downturns, and the breakdown of international collaboration.

• Jobs are lost in both donor and recipient countries as programs shut down. (Please, check in with all your friends and relatives that have been laid out due to these cuts)
• Partnerships are disengaging as trust and infrastructure built over decades collapse.
• Global supply chains weaken due to disrupted transport, logistics, and labor.
• Investment opportunities dry up, especially in fragile or emerging markets.

Ignoring the global health funding crisis is immoral and catastrophic for all.

We need to act NOW

We need more than just returning to previous funding levels. We need a coordinated global action that centers equity, sustainability, and the protection of human rights. Governments, international organizations, private donors, and civil society must work together to:

• Protect, scale and innovate health financing, especially in high-risk and under-resourced regions. Consider public-private partnerships for system-ready contexts, and flexible funding schemes with grassroot ownership.
• Integrate health programs with responses to conflict, climate change, and gender-responsive programming.
• Prioritize marginalized communities and ensure access to lifesaving services for all, regardless of geography, race, ability, gender, or legal status.

What will you do to change the course of the world?