Navigating Disruptions to Global Health Financing:

Since the beginning of 2025, the world has witnessed dramatic changes in global development assistance, as key donors drastically cut their aid. These decisions have heavily impacted low- and middle-income countries that rely on these funds to provide basic services to their populations. Public health systems have been among the most affected, with funds supporting critical preventive and curative care in jeopardy. At a strategic level, this moment demands clearer rules of the road for partnership: aligning domestic resource mobilization with transition plans, countries are looking for new external sources of funding, increasing their domestic funding, reprioritizing their health offerings, engaging in the integration of health services, and exploring innovative finance, partnerships, including public-private partnerships, and delivery options.

In this context, the Middle East Council on Global Affairs (ME Council), in partnership with the Gates Foundation, organized a public panel discussion at the Doha Forum 2025. The panel examines how South–South, trilateral, and Gulf-engaged partnerships with donor agencies, multilaterals, and the private sector can be structured to mitigate the impact of disruptions to global development assistance, ensuring continuity of public health services and accelerating a transition to a more sustainable system.

The panel brought together ministers, philanthropies, and development partners to reflect on the unprecedented shifts in global development assistance and their implications for health systems. The discussion focused on how countries in the Global South are strategically reclaiming greater ownership, driving policy reforms, and building more resilient, equitable, and self-reliant health systems. This panel discussion is part of the Doha Global South Health Policy Initiative, launched in 2024 by the ME Council and the Gates Foundation, with the support of Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Initiative serves as a platform for public health officials from Global South countries to discuss challenges and co-develop solutions for strengthening health systems.