Share & more
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy has unveiled details of a new initiative to treat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in developing countries.
Funds to buy medication will be raised by an initiative known as UnitAid, jointly proposed by France and Brazil to wealthy governments several months ago, in which a tax of US$1.30 per passenger will be imposed by airlines.
Erik Solheim, the development minister of Norway, one of 40 participating countries, noted: "There is not a single person who can afford to buy an airline ticket and can't afford this levy on top ... in our country it is less than one newspaper, one-half cup of coffee - it's simply nothing."
Douste-Blazy told reporters in Paris that the three diseases were easily treatable, but drugs remained inaccessible to many people in the developing world, often with devastating results.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions