PRESS CONFERENCE ON LAUNCH OF GLOBAL INITIATIVE TO FUND ACCESS TO HIV/AIDS TREATMENT
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Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York |
PRESS CONFERENCE ON LAUNCH OF GLOBAL INITIATIVE
TO FUND ACCESS TO HIV/AIDS TREATMENT
At a press conference at United Nations Headquarters today in the sidelines of the High-Level Meeting on AIDS, a new global initiative was launched that would use the proceeds from a tax on airline tickets to facilitate access of people in the developing world to drug treatment for HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
The idea for an “international air ticket solidarity levy”, to provide a stable and continuous source of financing to boost public health systems in developing countries and to facilitate access to drug treatment, originated three years ago with French President Jacques Chirac and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and supported by Chile and Norway. It was adopted at the Paris Conference on Innovative Financing for Development in March.
The innovative funding mechanism -- the International Drug Purchase Facility -- was aimed at better responding to the needs of the developing countries in terms of the volume of drugs produced, price level and drug suitability. The Facility had the support of some 40 countries and, so far, 14 were set to implement the tax on airline tickets –- Brazil, Chile, Congo, Cyprus, France, Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire, Jordan, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Norway, and the United Kingdom. France would impose the tax starting on 1 July.
France’s Foreign Minister, Philippe Douste-Blazy, moderated today’s press conference. He was joined by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, as well as: the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Brazil, Celso Luiz Nunes Amorim; the Minister for International Development of Norway, Erik Solheim; and the Minister of Health of Chile, María Soledad Barría. The Vice-President of the International Federation of Football (FIFA), Issa Hayatou, also participated, given the Federation’s partnership with the initiative, along with George Weah, the World’s Best Soccer Player of 1995.
Mr. Douste-Blazy recalled the quest for new sources of financing, saying that the idea had emerged three years ago to experiment with a levy on air travel, to finance the International Drug Purchase Facility. The concern was that there was no access to the much-needed drugs -- the drugs were in the North while the sick were mainly in the South. Today, drugs did not get marketed because they were not profitable, or because in the North too few children were affected with those illnesses to warrant the attention. The new Facility could raise anywhere from $800 million to even $1 billion or $2 billion. That would stretch the envelope and allow more drugs to be bought and provided for children globally.
Mr. Annan said that today had been a wonderful day for the poor, the sick and the vulnerable. It was not every day that an idea that started three years ago became a reality. Those who could afford it were making a contribution, showing incredible solidarity to assist those in need. It was an exciting idea, which he hoped would gain worldwide support. He appealed to all Governments to consider it seriously. He was also pleased with the partnership with FIFA, which would use the World Cup in nine days to promote the idea and encourage others to participate. He thanked the leaders present today, adding that the contribution must be additional to development assistance and not a substitute for it.
Everyone had said it was impossible, Mr. Solheim, Norway’s Minister for International Development, said, but all indications were that other Governments would follow. The mechanism provided a long-term political dimension. It was an embryo for a system of international taxation to underpin a global governance system. Its time had come, so although the partners were starting small -- a small tax on airline tickets -- they were paving the way for a sound global mechanism in the future. Every person in the world who could afford an air ticket could afford a very minor tax on it, something equivalent to half a cup of coffee.
Mr. Weah said people had helped him to be healthy, and at the end of the day, he had reached his goal as the world’s best soccer player and had contributed to society. Taxing airline tickets was for a good cause. In his country, Liberia, common malaria could kill a child because of insufficient medication. With enough medication, many, many lives could be saved. He was here today as a former United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) ambassador and as an advocate for less fortunate children. He was very pleased that FIFA had decided to join the initiative.
With more than 35 billion viewers, the World Cup would undoubtedly help promote the new mechanism, FIFA’s Vice-President said. Young people could not be effective if they were ill. FIFA would do everything it could to “score a victory” for youth, he stressed.
(Secretary-General Kofi Annan left the briefing after the opening remarks.)
When asked when the tax would be lifted, Brazil’s Foreign Minister, Celso Luiz Nunes Amorim, said there had been no discussion yet about a “sunset” clause, stressing that “we are here today talking about a sunrise clause for people for whom the sun never rises”.
Distributing drugs in a country without strengthening its public health system would not be a credible approach, Mr. Douste-Blazy replied to a question. Thus, the public health systems had to be strengthened, and programmes and agencies such as UNICEF and non-governmental organizations on the ground could help in that regard, such as with the distribution of drugs. He reminded correspondents about the need to address prevention, without which, all efforts were meaningless.
Asked about the commitment of pharmaceutical companies to the new endeavour, he said that discussions were just beginning with the pharmaceutical industry, and it was now that the prices had to be cut. If the pharmaceutical industry did not want to do that, there were always generic drugs. He truly believed there were great professionals in the pharmaceutical industry, however, which would be willing to cut prices. As soon as he had more information on that response, he would share it with journalists.
Noting that the Clinton Foundation had set up price agreements with various laboratories, particularly those that manufactured generic drugs, another correspondent asked if the Ministers thought that level of transparency with respect to profit margins could be followed.
Mr. Douste-Blazy said the group had spoken about that idea at length. The Clinton Foundation had been the first to set up a purchasing facility, and he paid tribute to it and to the former President. Clearly, the new initiative could not do less than that, and not because there were politicians behind it, but because they had to ensure that the drugs that were purchased were effective and listed by the World Health Organization (WHO). Yes, he sought to mirror that and other aspects of the Clinton Foundation, but at a global level, he added.
Another correspondent, noting that a representative of the Global Fund for AIDS had said at a briefing earlier this week that it was not providing services either in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea or in Myanmar, asked if the new initiative envisaged doing so.
Mr. Douste-Blazy said the idea was not to duplicate the bureaucracy, but to work with such entities as the Global Fund and determine the real needs and seek to meet them in the push to combat HIV and AIDS and malaria.
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For information media • not an official record