Opponents of global poverty have reason to celebrate. The recent approval by the US Food and Drug Administration of a new, once-a-day pill against Aids could revolutionise health in developing countries. The news follows approval earlier this year of a cervical cancer vaccine, which may save more than 200,000 lives each year in poor nations.

In the US, these breakthroughs have coincided with unprecedented political support for the funding that pays for such medicines. Last year the House of Representatives passed its foreign aid bill with 393 votes, the highest tally in more than two decades. Over the past six years, the US has increased six-fold the money it spends to fight scourges such as Aids and tuberculosis abroad.