Public awareness campaign for the international drug purchase facility (IDPF/UNITAID) (June 7, 2006)
On June 2, Foreign Minister Douste-Blazy attended a high level meeting on HIV/AIDS at UN headquarters in New York. It was chaired by his Swedish colleague, Mr. Eliasson, the president of the UN General Assembly. Several heads of state and government spoke at the meeting, as did UN secretary-general Kofi Annan.
On this occasion, the foreign minister and his Brazilian counterpart, Celso Amorim, the Norwegian minister of peace and international development, Erik Solheim, and the Chilean health minister, Lidia Amaralese, co-hosted a working lunch in conjunction with the executive director of UNAIDS, Peter Piot, to discuss the International Drug Purchase Facility (IDPF).
During the press conference that followed, the four ministers presented the political agreement giving rise to this facility and, in the presence of President Sepp Blatter and Pele, announced a partnership with FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) on the occasion of the World Cup.
Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy held a press conference under the high patronage of President Jacques Chirac on Wednesday, June 7, 2006, at the Quai d’Orsay. At that time he presented the public awareness campaign for the proposed international drug purchase facility (IDPF/UNITAID); Norwegian International Development Minister Erik Solheim was one of several leading figures present at the event.
Because illness and poverty must not be inevitable, because treatments exist for the great pandemics, because globalization is an opportunity to create new solidarities founded on innovative sources of financing for development, France, Brazil, Chile and Norway, with the backing of several international organizations (WHO, UNICEF, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis) decided to pool their efforts to set up an international drug purchase facility to enable the poorest citizens in developing countries to have access to treatments for malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS. Initiated by President Jacques Chirac and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, joined by Chile and Norway, and supported by about 40 other countries and many international partners (international organizations, NGOs and private foundations) the international drug purchase facility, UNITAID, has already received the backing of Nelson Mandela and several prominent individuals.
UNITAID will be financed by revenue from the international contribution on airline tickets which will take effect in France on July 1, with several other countries planning to introduce it shortly. Budget contributions from other partners will be added to this. With a small staff and operating through existing structures, it will be able to influence the drugs market to bring down prices substantially.
Many partners have agreed to support the project, beginning with FIFA which will promote it at the World Cup in Germany which starts June 9. TFI, NRJ, Hachette Filipacchi, Eurosport, RMC and l’Equipe are making their networks available for the initiative. The three main mobile phone operators, through the SMS+ association, have agreed to work together to open a free solidarity line. The association of mayors of the big cities of France are also mobilizing among with many NGOs and celebrities from the arts, culture and sports worlds.
"We have to be sure it gets to its proper destination. So we’re in discussions with the World Health Organization about it managing these funds. UNICEF, UNAIDS and other humanitarian organizations, independent of States, will also be tasked with the redistribution. Moreover, there are plans for batches of medicines, all the same colour, to be marked electronically to ensure their traceability and prevent trafficking"
"Today, you’ve got Chile, Norway, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Qatar and Spain who are going to do it. 43 countries have decided to participate in the "Pilot Group" on innovative financing. We are convinced that we can’t allow a sick person to die every three seconds in the South because he/she hasn’t got medicine for tuberculosis, AIDS or malaria."
Speech by M. Philippe Douste-Blazy, Minister of Foreign Affairs, during the press conference
"We asked for a report on the issue and it came up with the idea of a levy on plane tickets. A solidarity contribution paid on plane tickets. It isn’t very much: €1 whenever you get on a plane to France or any other European destination and €4 for international flights. If you buy a first-class ticket, the contribution is, of course, four times greater, but €1 or €4 is nothing when set against what I’ve just described. This alone - from 1 July for France, since that’s the date the Act comes into force - will mean €200 million, $300 million."
"The first priority is to increase resources. We have reached the halfway stage, but are now on a plateau.(...) The second priority is to strengthen coordination between bilateral and multilateral donors to support national strategies to combat AIDS.(...) The third priority is to help countries in the southern hemisphere to strengthen their health services. (...) Finally, the fourth priority is research. Only a preventive vaccine can really curb the progress of the epidemic."
"I’d also like to say that it’s the first initiative for ordinary people in the world. For the first time, by buying a plane ticket a world citizen will give a euro for another world citizen who is sick. It’s new, it’s what the presidents wanted. It’s a new way of seeing globalization. We’re going to work on the way UNITAID is run. Northern and southern countries, northern and southern non-governmental organizations and also private foundations will have to be involved."
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