SVT reports that U.S. policy changes under the Trump administration are hindering global research, including in Sweden. Professor Anna Mia Ekström warns that funding cuts and censorship of over 250 common terms—like “woman” and “elderly”—are silencing vital studies.
Photo: Ernie A. Stephens/Unsplash
SVT published an article on 15 April 2025 which highlights how recent U.S. political decisions under the Trump administration are impacting international research, including in Sweden. The article features Anna Mia Ekström, professor of global infectious disease epidemiology at Karolinska Institutet, who is also a steering and executive committee member of SweDev.
More than 250 commonly used words—such as “woman,” “obesity,” and “elderly”—are no longer allowed in official U.S. government documents according to sources including The New York Times, Reuters, and PEN America. This restriction is already having consequences for research worldwide. According to Ekström, “Research that we in Sweden think is important – about, for example, contraceptives, abortion, and sexual health – can no longer be pursued internationally if the U.S. gets its way.”
The Trump administration has also cut funding to several U.S. universities and halted support for USAID, which provides 42% of the world’s humanitarian aid. This affects global research on infectious diseases like HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria, which has relied heavily on U.S. funding. Projects in Sweden, including studies on traffic injuries in Angola and gender-affirming care, have been discontinued due to withdrawn U.S. funding.
Scientific reports are also being removed from American databases. Ekström describes the situation as “brutal censorship,” adding, “In the U.S., a culture of silence is spreading, because universities and individual researchers fear losing their funding if they speak out.”
A short video featuring Anna Mia Ekström is included in the article.
Reportedly Banned or Avoided Words (according to Pen America):
- Elderly
- Woman
- Autism
- Accessibility
- Equality
- Advocate
- Fetus
- Overweight
- Peanut allergy
- Hate
- Historical
- Mental health
- Cultural heritage
- Definition
- Evidence-based
- Society
- Vaccine
- Pollution
- Political
- Trauma