[Ip-health] Financial Times: Levy for air travellers to fight Aids

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

Levy for air travellers to fight Aids

By Ben Hall in Paris

Published: July 1 2009 16:37 | Last updated: July 1 2009 16:37

Travellers in the US, UK and Germany could soon find themselves
donating to the fight against Aids and malaria when they buy an
airline ticket over the internet under a scheme to raise hundreds of
millions of dollars for healthcare in poor countries.

The scheme, which may involve an automatic contribution with an opt-
out, could be launched by May 2010 as a complement to an air ticket
tax that has raised nearly $1bn since it was was

Philippe Douste-Blazy, the president of Unitaid, the body that
oversees the air ticket tax, said the explosion of public debt during
the economic crisis made it all the more essential to find innovative
ways of raising money to cure Aids, malaria and tuberculosis.

No other large economy has so far followed France in levying a tax on
airline tickets, although Japan is considering it and some other
countries, including the UK, have made lump-sum contributions to the
scheme.

Mr Douste-Blazy said extending a voluntary contribution scheme to
three of the world=92s biggest airline markets would allow a big
expansion of efforts to provide cut-price medication to poor countries.

He would not give an estimate because much will depend on the final
design and scope of the scheme, including the crucial issue of whether
it is an opt-in or opt-out scheme,

Mr Douste-Blazy said he was hopeful that all the major US airlines and
online travel operators would sign up the scheme, which is being
backed by Bill Clinton, former US president.

France=92s air ticket tax accounts for about two-thirds of the revenue
raised by Unitaid.

France levies =801 on an economy class domestic flight and =804 on an
economy international fare. Business and first class passengers are
taxed =8010 for a domestic ticket and =8040 for a international flight.

Unitaid says the tax has had no impact on French airline ticket sales.

Mr Douste-Blazy, a former French foreign minister, expressed
scepticism about his government=92s recent attempt to relaunch the idea
of a so-called Tobin tax on international financial transactions to
raise money for overseas aid.

=93Tobin has not made it,=94 he said. =93But our idea has.=94

Mr Douste-Blazy said it was essential to focus on practical schemes.
=93We really must provide innovative financing mechanism that don=92t
bring economic distortions. The Tobin tax is fine, as long as everyone
implements it.=94

Unitaid still hopes to sign up a total of 40 countries to its airline
tax scheme, =93a tipping point at which others will feel a bit ashamed
at not taking part,=94 he said.

A voluntary contribution scheme could be a stepping stone to a full
tax because it would help raise awareness of the problem of tackling
Aids and malaria in developing countries, he said.

Unitaid has negotiated price reductions of 50 per cent on anti-
retroviral drugs, including more recent and sophisticated versions.
Its programme accounts for three out of four children receiving anti-
retroviral treatment in the poorest developing countries.

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Thiru Balasubramaniam
Geneva Representative
Knowledge Ecology International (KEI)
thiru@keionline.org


Tel: +41 22 791 6727
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