How you might spend $87bn? Well, female literacy is a key issue in health as it relates to infant mortality and maternal mortality. The cost of that, annually, is $15bn. Infant mortality, you could reduce by two-thirds across the world, with a mere $20bn. Providing access to water and sanitation, the cost is small - well, it's enormous, but on this scale it's small - that's £5-10bn.

In terms of the progression towards trying to relieve the health burdens of global warming, a renewable energy source is vital. The microchip - and I'm speaking from memory - cost $100 to make in 1960, and it costs one cent now. The point is that if you put that amount of investment into renewable energy, the costs would tumble.

The HIV/Aids pandemic, malaria and TB are the most relevant diseases that affect the poorest parts of the world. The cost of getting on top of Aids, well, people are talking $8bn. Things like polio, the WHO reckons you'd need $1bn - peanuts, compared to the sort of figures they're talking about in Iraq.

--Robin Stott, consultant physician and member of the Faculty of Health i Guardian 10/9: The $87bn question

"Our strategy in Iraq will require new resources. We have conducted a thorough assessment of our military and reconstruction needs in Iraq, and also in Afghanistan. I will soon submit to Congress a request for $87 billion. The request will cover ongoing military and intelligence operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere..." (--George Bush, 8/9)