Nineteen states including include Brazil, Britain, Chile, Cambodia, Cameroon, Congo, Cyprus, France, Gabon, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Norway and South Korea are committed to levying a tax on airline tickets as part of a new way to treat people in poor countries for AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria under a program called UNITAID which brings together countries, U.N. agencies, international organizations and others to tackle some of the world’s worst diseases. UNITAID plans initially to spend €50 million (US$63 million) this year and about €300 million next year to give 100,000 children access to anti-retroviral treatment and 150,000 children treatment against tuberculosis.Further details here.
