Work

USAID’s Role in Saving Children’s Lives: Past Legacy and Future Directions

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: For more than 60 years, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has been a major funder of efforts to improve maternal and child health (MCH) across many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). From 2000 to 2022, the global under-five mortality rate declined from 76 to 37 deaths per 1000 live births.1. Though this progress stemmed from the cumulative efforts of many organizations, governments, and health care workers, a 2022 causal analysis by Weiss et al. (the most recent analysis available), demonstrated that from 2000 to 2016, high USAID funding for MCH and malaria independently reduced under-five mortality by more than 20 deaths per 1000 live births compared with control regions.2.

Source: PEDIATRICS

DOI: 10.1542/peds.2025-071260

Authors: Alexandra L. Coria, Brian Wahl, Naveen Thacker, Rachel Vreeman, Liesl Zühlke

Institutions: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Yale University, South African Medical Research Council, University of Cape Town

Language: English

Topic: Global Maternal and Child Health

Subfield: Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Partnerships for the goals

Open Access status: hybrid

Funders: United States Agency for International Development, International AIDS Society