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TIME examines a voluntary airline tax, to be introduced in the U.S. and several European countries in January, that aims to “make up a shortfall in official government aid to poor countries - a shortfall exacerbated by the world financial crisis.” The tax will be used to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and it will also go towards improving maternal health and reducing child mortality.

The $2 tax - which is backed by the travel industry and organizations, including the William J. Clinton Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation - is “the brainchild of Philippe Douste-Blazy, a former French foreign minister” who runs UNITAID, the magazine writes, noting that it is “no accident that he’s a Frenchman: the French have for several years levied a compulsory tax on airline tickets to help fund development projects and have long sought to get others to join them, with mixed success.”

The voluntary tax “will be formally announced in New York on Sept. 23 on the fringes of the U.N. General Assembly … British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the head of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, are expected to participate in the launch, as well as the chief executives of the three companies that have made it technically possible: Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport/Galileo, who run the reservation and ticketing systems for most of the world’s airlines,” according to TIME.

The tax could raise up to $1 billion per year, according to estimates by consultants McKinsey & Co., and could help achieve U.N. Millennium Development Goal targets. Douste-Blazy has also said that administrative expenses will be minimal, “especially by U.N. standards - less than 5% of the money raised,” according to TIME.

Bjorn Skogno, a senior official in the Norwegian Foreign Ministry who is involved with the project, said, development aid “is likely to go down because of the [financial] crisis, so there’s a need to be innovative to find new sources of funds.” The article also discusses preparations for the launch of the tax and the chances of its success (Gumbel, 9/18).

This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org.

© Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) launches a major new awareness raising campaign aimed at gay men in London. ‘Assumptions’ is aimed at men who don’t use condoms because they think they have correctly identified their partner’s status. This campaign urges men not to assume that they ‘know’ the HIV status of a new partner.

Research shows that some gay men ’sort’ potential sexual partners based on first impressions and assumptions rather than actual disclosure. Many still believe that they can tell someone’s HIV status based on a person’s appearance, or their approach towards unprotected sex. This campaign challenges men to reconsider this assumption. It also highlights the fact this strategy significantly increases the risk of HIV transmission and acquiring other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

‘Assumptions’ consists of a series of three adverts. Each advert features two men having sex and in each scenario, the differing points of view of each man are presented with one man believing: ‘He’s not mentioned condoms. He’s gotta be positive like me’, whilst the other thinks: ‘No condom, so he’s probably negative too’. The strapline of the campaign says: ‘Don’t assume you’re both thinking the same thing.’

Marc Thompson, Deputy Head of Health Promotion for THT said: “We know that some men make a decision to have unprotected sex with someone who they believe shares their HIV status - whether that’s positive or negative. The fact is this approach dramatically increases the risk of HIV as well as other STIs being passed on. We hope this campaign will encourage gay men to think about the assumptions they make about the status of their partner before they have sex. Ultimately we hope ‘Assumptions’ will reduce the number of new HIV infections amongst gay men in London.

The new campaign will run for twelve weeks. There will be adverts in the gay press, posters in bars and saunas and a banner ad online directing men to find out more about ‘Assumptions’.

The ‘Assumptions’ campaign has been funded by the Pan London HIV Prevention Partnership. Men can find out more by visiting http://www.gmfa.org.uk/assumptions.

Source
Terrence Higgins Trust

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IRIN examines how a recent resolution to create an agency to promote women’s “rights and wellbeing” by the U.N. General Assembly is being welcomed by international HIV/AIDS advocates. According to IRIN, “[w]omen make up 60 percent of people living with AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, a figure that rises to 75 percent in the 15-24 age range. In Asia, nearly 50 million women are at risk of becoming infected with HIV from their partners.”

The agency is seen as “long overdue” by some HIV/AIDS advocates. “‘We see this not as an end but a beginning - the U.N.’s first attempt to form a serious gender entity, and the Secretary-General’s opportunity to make a monumental change both in the way the U.N. operates, and in the lives of women everywhere,’ said Stephen Lewis, co-director of AIDS-Free World and former U.N. special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa,” IRIN writes.

“We hope the new agency will help with advocacy around women’s issues, and will lead to more grass-roots support for HIV-positive women,” Marion Natukunda, project director for a Ugandan NGO, said. According to IRIN, “AIDS-Free World urged U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to reserve a seat for the head of the women’s agency on the Committee of Co-sponsoring Organizations that comprise UNAIDS” (9/18).

This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org.

© Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.