Obama's victory

doi:10.1136/bmj.a3082

Published 5 January 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.a3082
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:a3082

Editorials

Obama’s victory

What are the implications for global health?

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The world looked on in anticipation as a new American presidentwas elected on 4 November 2008. Discussion in American healthpolicy circles focused on the question of how the next presidentmight reform the American health system.¹ However, the restof the world will be more concerned about the implications forglobal health. This is something that demands urgent attentionbecause the first 100 days of the new administration can beexpected to set the tone for the rest of the presidential term.

From what can be glimpsed so far, the election of Barack Obamaseems to have four major implications for health worldwide.The first relates to assistance in international development.Obama has called for a substantial increase in development aid.He would like to increase funding for the President’sEmergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) by $1bn (£0.6bn; ${euro}$ 0.7bn) over five years and double overall foreign assistance. . . [Full text of this article]