Air ticket tax in France helps fight HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria
Provides 70% of UNITAID funding
France’s levy on air tickets has collected more than €1bn since its launch in 2006, according to figures from the French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC).
And this money has contributed to the fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria because it provides about 70% of UNITAID’s funding.
UNITAID is a world health initiative launched in 2006 by the Governments of Brazil, Chile, France, Norway and the UK to ensure sustainable and predictable funding for HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB, which kill more than 4 million people every year.
The levy, of just €1 for economy class tickets and €40 for business class, applies to all passengers on flights out of France.
According to figures from the World Tourism Organisation, France was the world’s prime tourist destination a year after the levy was first imposed, and it retained its number-one spot in 2011. Moreover, a report published in July 2011 by the French National Assembly noted that the tax had had no adverse effects on air traffic or jobs in the airline industry.
UNITAID therefore urges other countries to follow the French example by introducing a similar national levy on airline tickets.
The contribution from each ticket purchase pays for one week's treatment for a child with HIV/AIDS
Thanks to the levy, UNITAID has achieved notable results in its fight against HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria, by exploiting its purchasing power to drive down the price of medicines and make quality health products available to some of the poorest people in the world.
‘Every flight counts. The contribution from each ticket purchase pays for one week’s treatment for a child living with HIV/AIDS,’ said UNITAID Executive Director Denis Broun.
Among its successes, UNITAID has created the market for paediatric HIV/AIDS treatments by negotiating across-the-board price reductions of 80%; supplied medicines to more than 400 000 children living with HIV/AIDS; administered HIV tests to 8 million pregnant women in countries with high-prevalence rates; distributed more than 200 million high-quality malaria treatments in endemic countries; and supplied 1 million paediatric TB treatments.
Twenty-eight countries and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation support UNITAID in its quest to eradicate these diseases.