Dear Bill

Just as Ted Turner with his one time gift of US$ 34 million to the US State Department has recently bailed out the US government with regard to its outstanding dues to the UN (supposedly negotiated in 10 minutes between him and Richard Holbrooke) so have you bailed out global health. In the short period of three years your Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has supported global health development in your areas of choice (vaccine development and maternal and child health). The budget of the World Health Organisation pales in comparison. You should be praised for this commitment. One of my students suggested that …