FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Global Alliance for TB Drug Development Applauds Innovative, International Effort to Fund New Drugs
'UNITAID' Announces Funding Initiative Based On International Air Travel
Global Alliance for TB Drug Development Applauds Innovative, International Effort to Fund New Drugs ‘UNITAID’ Announces Funding Initiative Based On International Air Travel
NEW YORK (Sept. 18, 2006) – The Global Alliance for TB Drug Development (TB Alliance), a not-for-profit leader in researching and developing new drugs to combat tuberculosis, today applauded an innovative, international effort to fund drugs purchased through a new tax on air travel.
"The UNITAID initiative is an important and creative way of supporting critical initiatives in global public health," said Dr. Maria Freire, President and CEO of the TB Alliance. "The small tax on airline tickets will be a big boost for access to new treatments for tuberculosis and other diseases of the poor."
The General Assembly of the United Nations is expected to announce on Tuesday the launch of UNITAID, an international drug purchasing facility geared to enable the poorest citizens in developing nations to have access to treatments for malaria, AIDS and TB. Initiated by French President Jacques Chirac and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the initiative was joined by Chile and Norway and supported by many international partners and about 40 countries, including Congo, Cyprus, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Norway, and the United Kingdom.
Contact: Sydney Rubin
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