UNITAID is a new initiative which aims to use revenues from air passenger duty to fight HIV & AIDS, TB and malaria. It was developed by Brazil, Chile, France and Norway, and will focus on significantly reducing the cost of new medicines and diagnostics. Campaigners hope that it will encourage the production of affordable, generic versions of essential medicines through the use of TRIPS flexibilities.
A key feature of UNITAID is its funding. It aims to lever new resources for HIV/AIDS, which are additional to existing aid commitments and predictable over the long-term. France and Norway’s contributions will be funded by an ‘air ticket levy’ — where a small proportion of the cost of each air ticket purchased will go to UNITAID. This is significant because (i) this is new money to fight AIDS — it is in addition to their other commitments; (ii) it provides long-term secure and predictable funding. France’s air ticket levy is expected to generate around EUR200m each year.
The UK is participating in UNITAID, but it is contributing just EUR20 million in 2007 - just one tenth of France´s contribution. In addition, the UK’s contribution is not new money.
Despite the fact that the UK´s existing airline levy generated almost a billion pounds for the UK Treasury last year, the UK’s contribution is coming out of its existing aid budget. This undermines the initiative’s role in levering predictable funds that are additional to existing aid commitments.
The UK’s contribution to UNITAID should be ‘new’ money, additional to its pre-existing aid commitments. The UK should increase its contribution to match that of France, and ensure that UNITAID focuses on driving down the prices of essential medicines by encouraging the production of affordable, generic versions.
UNITAID, International Drug Purchase Facility