The Washington Post has revealed the Bush administration blocked the U.S. surgeon general from releasing a report last year that called on the government to spend more money on global health issues. A Bush political appointee reportedly blocked the publication because it did not promote the administration’s policy accomplishments. In the report, Surgeon General Richard Carmona described the link between poverty and poor health and urged the U.S. government to help combat widespread diseases as a key aim of its foreign policy. The report also called on corporations to help improve health conditions and warned about the use of pesticides. Carmona, who served as surgeon general up until last year, was also prevented from publishing a report on healthcare in the nation’s prisons.