Travelers in the US, UK and Germany could soon find themselves donating to the fight against Aids, tuberculosis. and malaria when they buy an airline ticket over the internet under a scheme to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for healthcare in poor countries.
The scheme, which may involve an automatic contribution with an opt-out, could be launched by May 2010 as a complement to an air ticket tax that has raised nearly 1 billion US dollar (ca. 5,3 milliarder DKR) since it was launched in France and a handful of other countries three years ago.
Philippe Douste-Blazy, the president of Unitaid, the body that oversees the air ticket tax, said the explosion of public debt during the economic crisis made it all the more essential to find innovative ways of raising money to cure Aids, malaria and tuberculosis.
Douste-Blazy was hopeful that all the major US airlines and online travel operators would sign up the scheme, which is being backed by Bill Clinton, former US president.
– Unitaid still hopes to sign up a total of 40 countries to its airline tax scheme, “a tipping point at which others will feel a bit ashamed at not taking part”, he said.
Se også http://www.unitaid.eu
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
