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For decades, global health has treated aid dependency as a neutral, technical condition, something to measure and manage. But what if dependency is actually a feature of the system, not a bug? Emilie Koum Besson introduces a "Matrix of Dependency Dimensions," revealing eight distinct forms, ranging from historical and epistemic to what she calls "hidden co-dependency," in which elites in both the North and the South benefit from the status quo. She challenges the sustainability-versus-dependency binary, explains when aid shifts from catalytic to excessive, and argues that 2025's rhetorical shift toward sovereignty won't matter without dismantling the actual architecture of global health financing.

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