Dr. Sara Riese
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drsarariese.bsky.social
Dr. Sara Riese
@drsarariese.bsky.social
Global public health nerd. Sr researcher at the DHS Program / Assoc Faculty at Johns Hopkins SPH. Burkina Faso RPCV. Childhood cancer survivor. Views my own.
Reposted by Dr. Sara Riese
When we fail to show that billionaires and big corporations are the ones promoting and benefitting from hustle culture, many men assume (incorrectly) that if they're struggling with loneliness/mental distress, it's because society is helping women at men's expense.
bsky.app/profile/did:...
International Women's Day has become a day I approach trepidation--waiting to see Ipsos's annual poll.

This year's results don't curb my anxieties. 53% of men globally (47% of US men) agree that efforts toward gender equality have gone so far they're hurting men. And young men agree most of all.🧵1/
March 9, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Reposted by Dr. Sara Riese
The nature of a cult is that it will turn you against your own family. Your loved ones will cheer as you are led off to the camps because hurting even you is what is necessary to bring on the glorious nation. apnews.com/article/trum...
Thrust into unemployment, axed federal workers face relatives who celebrate their firing
Scrambling to replace their health insurance and to find new work, some fired federal workers are running into another unexpected unpleasantry: Relatives cheering their job loss.
apnews.com
March 8, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Reposted by Dr. Sara Riese
Richest guy in the world telling us we can’t afford to have our government fund cancer research.
March 2, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Reposted by Dr. Sara Riese
"Bloodbath" is an apt description. The number of deaths that will occur as a direct result of U.S. funding being axed is no different from indiscriminate bombing erasing entire populations during a war. It is tantamount to genocide. The U.S. was once the "good" guy.
www.science.org/content/arti...
‘A bloodbath’: HIV field is reeling after billions in U.S. funding are axed
USAID’s promises to support lifesaving efforts are broken, putting millions in peril
www.science.org
March 1, 2025 at 1:00 PM
🚩🚩🚩
This is very bad. “A panel of scientific experts that advises the Food and Drug Administration on vaccine policy — and has been the target of criticism from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — learned on Wednesday that its upcoming meeting to discuss next year’s flu vaccines has been canceled.”
F.D.A. Cancels Meeting of Vaccine Experts Scheduled to Advise on Flu Shots
The cancellation plays into fears among scientists who worry that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will use his position as health secretary to sow doubts about vaccines.
www.nytimes.com
February 27, 2025 at 1:59 AM
Reposted by Dr. Sara Riese
How will cuts to USAID affect the world's poorest?

Insights from my research in Zambia

www.youtube.com/shorts/e59VL...
How will cuts to USAID affect the world’s poorest? Insights from my research https://t.co/RPlsMDYU0u
YouTube video by Alice Evans
www.youtube.com
February 26, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Reposted by Dr. Sara Riese
Surreal read of the day: a paper using USAID-funded and now terminated Demographic & Health Surveys to count the huge number of lives saved by the now frozen US PEPFAR program to fight HIV, co-authored by current US admin’s nominee to lead cuts in health research

jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
HIV Development Assistance and Adult Mortality in Africa
To determine the effects of the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), Bendavid and coauthors conducted analyses of adult mortality using person-level data from the Demographic and He...
jamanetwork.com
February 26, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Reposted by Dr. Sara Riese
An influential program that gave detailed public health information to about half of the world’s nations has folded as a result of the Trump administration’s freeze on foreign aid.

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/26/h...
Trump Administration Ends Global Health Research Program (Gift Article)
The Demographic and Health Surveys were the only sources of reliable information in many countries on metrics such as mortality, nutrition and education.
www.nytimes.com
February 26, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Reposted by Dr. Sara Riese
We are witnessing the wholesale destruction of our public health infrastructure and monitoring systems.

This administration is profoundly and deliberately anti-life.
For 38 years, PRAMS has collected critical data on maternal-child health with the goal to reduce infant morbidity and mortality. CDC has officially halted the 2024 PRAMS data collection for the participating 46 states and the future is uncertain.
PRAMS
Surveillance project of CDC and health departments used to improve maternal and infant health.
www.cdc.gov
February 21, 2025 at 10:33 PM
Reposted by Dr. Sara Riese
BREAKING: A federal judge just blocked the Trump administration from canceling foreign aid contracts/awards that were in place prior to Trump's inauguration. t.co/2OBoBANkxW](s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25...)
February 14, 2025 at 2:54 AM
Reposted by Dr. Sara Riese
When health data go dark, we create dangerous blind spots. The USAID funding freeze has halted DHS Program work in many LMICs. Read our call to restore data access & continue DHS activities: shorturl.at/8U1LN @itmantwerp.bsky.social @srhgroup-itm.bsky.social @lenkabenova.bsky.social
When health data go dark
A call to restore DHS Program funding
www.itg.be
February 13, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Reposted by Dr. Sara Riese
Health workers, policymakers, students, educators, & researchers who use data, methods & findings from USAID-funded DHS Program published a preprint calling for restoration of access to data & continued operation of DHS Program website. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... cc @stephanienolen.bsky.social
When Health Data Go Dark: A Call to Restore DHS Program Funding
<span>The suspension and threatened closure of USAID has severe short- and long-term negative impacts on the health of people worldwide.</span><span> We dr
papers.ssrn.com
February 13, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Reposted by Dr. Sara Riese
Not confirmed yet, but The DHS Program, which has operated for 40+ years collecting data in over 90+ countries and is the primary source of data for monitoring global health, is on the list of contracts to be cut. This is devastating on so many levels.
Not only has survey preparation, collection, and data processing stopped, but so has the ability to request and download #DHSProgram data because the requests are handled by my colleagues who are furloughed. If (when?) USAID is permanently dismantled, this tremendous global good will be lost. 💔
The Demographic Health Surveys Program is on pause. This is not surprising, but it's devastating on many levels. dhsprogram.com
February 11, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Reposted by Dr. Sara Riese
Once again, it was created by congress in 1961. Any decision to close it requires congress. This move is illegal.
Elon Musk said on X early Monday he is in the process of closing USAID with Trump's blessing.

“I went over it with him in detail, and he agreed that we should shut it down,” Musk said. ... ‘Are you sure?’”

The answer was yes, he said.

“And so we’re shutting it down,” Musk said.

wapo.st/4jI7On5
Trump moves to wrest control of USAID as Musk says ‘we’re shutting it down’
Billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk said early Monday that his DOGE team is in the process of closing USAID, the world’s largest provider of food assistance.
wapo.st
February 3, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Reposted by Dr. Sara Riese
When I was a Hill staffer in 2009, a Dem trifecta was trying to pass universal healthcare. In response, Senate GOP released a memo detailing all of the tactics they in the minority could use to delay the effort as much as possible. I'm recirculating that 2009 GOP memo here. Take inspiration from it.
February 2, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Reposted by Dr. Sara Riese
Reposted by Dr. Sara Riese
As a very proud former USAID staffer, I reject this filthy, false, insane statement.

This person’s powers must be immediately abrogated.
February 2, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Are you university faculty in an eligible LMIC country? Want to strengthen your skills using DHS data? Now accepting applications from university faculty in eligible countries for the 2025 DHS Fellows Program! Deadline is November 5, 2024. Learn more and apply today!
dhsprogram.com/methodology/...
The DHS Program - 2025 DHS Fellows Program
dhsprogram.com
September 30, 2024 at 2:07 PM
Want to strengthen your skills to use DHS data? We are now accepting applications from university faculty in eligible countries for the 2024 DHS Fellows Program! The deadline to apply is November 12, 2023. Learn more and apply today. dhsdata.com/46CmPj3
October 11, 2023 at 6:43 PM