Jil Molenaar

Chart from NetBlocks showing platform feature restrictions by ISP in Tanzania in November 3, 2025. The data indicates widespread internet restrictions affecting social media and messaging platforms including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, Telegram and Tiktok. Access issues are observed across major ISPs such as Tigo, Vodacom and Airtel with services showing varying levels of reachability, in some cases down to 0%. The disruptions coincide with Wednesday's election measures.

⚠️ Update: Live metrics show widespread restrictions to multiple social media and messaging platforms as #Tanzania comes back online after a five-day internet shutdown; the incident continues to limit election transparency and the free flow of information

The Gates Foundation’s Global Reach Expands, to Mixed Reviews As the U.S. and other countries cut funding for global health initiatives, what role will philanthropy take?

What's happening to global health now that Trump's withdrawing the US from...everything? The Gates Foundation—already a major player—is now filling that power vacuum, for better or worse. Check out my new piece for @undark.org! undark.org/2025/07/02/g...

🔎 The University of St Andrews research team led by Katherine Keenan and partner in the SOC-MISC project is seeking a postdoctoral researcher to work on analysing Scottish public data on miscarriages.

More information in the link below :
👉 www.vacancies.st-andrews.ac.uk/Vacancies/I/...

When health data go dark: the importance of the DHS Program and imagining its future - BMC Medicine Background The suspension and/or termination of many programmes funded through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) by the new US administration has severe short- and long-te...

When health data go dark: the importance of the DHS Program and imagining its future

We discuss;

Consequences on the tracking of population health outcomes & behaviours.

Implications for national decision-makers & the global health community

Potential paths forward

doi.org/10.1186/s129...

We are raising an alarm about the effect of USAID funding cuts on essential population and health data.

ssrn.com/abstract=513...

@pete-m-m.bsky.social @srhgroup-itm.bsky.social @bhensen.bsky.social @jilmolenaar.bsky.social @onykepe.bsky.social @cbpolis.bsky.social @manueladr.bsky.social ocial

🚨 What happens when vital health data disappears? The suspension of USAID funding for the DHS Program threatens global health monitoring, policymaking, and life-saving interventions. We must restore funding before this loss impacts millions. Share with your network!
www.itg.be/en/health-st...

When health data go dark A call to restore DHS Program funding

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

Visual summary of key themes

Just published: ‘Getting the numbers right’ - on how healthcare workers navigate power & pressure when collecting MNH data in Tanzania. Ethnographic insights on the social lives of health data 🏥 tinyurl.com/3n8tcefh @srhgroup-itm.bsky.social @lenkabenova.bsky.social

As women in academia, having children can feel impossible. Talking about it makes us feel less alone The struggle is “balancing their careers not just with motherhood, but with what comes before: relationships and planning for a family,” these postdocs write

We had heard about the challenges posed by motherhood within academia, but what about the previous stage? @ecfreewoman.bsky.social & I wrote our story for @science.org on how the academic system makes it almost impossible for women to even plan for a family ❤️‍🩹: www.science.org/content/arti...

Doelen behaald, de essentie gemist: De politiek van geboortedata | Kennismakers De hoge druk om doelstellingen te halen voor betere gezondheidsuitkomsten voor vrouwen en hun baby’s, kan onbedoeld negatieve gevolgen hebben.

De hoge druk om doelstellingen te halen voor betere gezondheidsuitkomsten voor vrouwen en hun baby’s, kan onbedoeld negatieve gevolgen hebben. De Nederlandstalige versie van mijn blog staat nu online op de Kennismakers website! shorturl.at/WzVPt @srhgroup-itm.bsky.social @annadams.bsky.social

Scientists as political advocates Science, both teaching and doing, is under attack. The recent US presidential election of a person and platform with anti-science bias exemplifies this. The study of climate processes and patterns and...

Scientists should stop arguing about whether science is political and get on with defending science against increasingly powerful attacks on it, which, yes, means scientists should be political advocates 🔥🔥
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Georgia Dismissed All Members of Maternal Mortality Committee After ProPublica Obtained Internal Details of Two Deaths In a letter, the state’s public health commissioner said the action was taken because “confidential information provided to the Maternal Mortality Review Committee was inappropriately shared with outs...

Georgia officials have dismissed all members of the state's Maternal Mortality Review Committee, which is charged with investigating deaths of pregnant women, in response to ProPublica's reporting on the deaths of Amber Thurman and Candi Miller.

@srhgroup-itm.bsky.social @lenkabenova.bsky.social #DigitalHealth #MaternalHealth #QualitativeResearch #HealthSystems #Tanzania

Digital data systems hold a lot of promise, but we should avoid ‘techno-utopian’ views of digital technologies as straightforward ways to fix problems in routine health information systems. Our qualitative paper 'Data for whom?' is now out in BMJ Global Health! gh.bmj.com/content/9/11...

Mapping Lubumbashi’s maternal healthcare services Recently, health system managers & stakeholders provided input on preliminary maps of maternal & newborn healthcare facilities in Lubumbashi

"This #map represents what I know": the power of putting Lubumbashi’s #maternal healthcare services on the map

"Keeping the maps accurate therefore requires a continuous effort, which is unlikely to happen without local ownership."

www.itg.be/fr/histoires...
www.itg.be/en/health-st...

Meeting the target but missing the point: The politics of childbirth data Pressure to meet targets to improve health outcomes for women and their babies can have unintended negative consequences. Rose, one of two nurse-midwives on duty in a hospital labour ward in Southe…

Pressure to meet targets to improve health outcomes for women and their babies can have unintended negative consequences. In this blog post, published on Harvard’s Maternal Health Taskforce website, I explain why.
www.mhtf.org/2024/11/07/m...