"US President Barack Obama on Tuesday announced a $63 billion, six-year health initiative to help people in the world's poorest countries, most of it to bolster existing programs.

'We cannot simply confront individual preventable illnesses in isolation. The world is interconnected, and that demands an integrated approach to global health,' Obama said in a statement. ...

The money will go toward efforts to fight AIDS, tropical diseases and other illness and to help improve maternal health. The initiative will be aimed at addressing 'some of the biggest global health challenges,' said Deputy Secretary of State Jack Lew. ..." [Reuters/Factiva]

NYT reports that "...In announcing the request, the White House said Mr. Obama was seeking $51 billion to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria during the six years and $12 billion for other global health priorities. His budget proposal calls for $7.4 billion for HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in 2010, an increase of $366 million over this year. ..." [The New York Times/Factiva]

AP notes that "...Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the plan is part of a foreign policy that leaves the United States in a more secure and stable relationship with poor countries by improving this country's image. ...

Critics of the plan said the increase falls short of a campaign pledge. On his still-active campaign Web site, Obama posted his 2007 Global AIDS Day statement calling on a $1 billion annual increase in PEPFAR funding over five years. ..." [The Associated Press/Factiva]