Brazil Vows to Help International Fund for AIDS and TB

The Brazilian Minister of Foreign Relations, Celso Amorim, said yesterday, July 6, that Brazil intends to assist in the implementation of the International Drug Purchase Facility (IDPF) by contributing a share of the federal budget until the country devises a mechanism to charge a tax on airline tickets.

The purpose of the IDPF is to buy cheaper medicines to use in the fight against AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis, diseases which are more prevalent in developing countries. Since July 1st the tax has been collected in France.

Brazil and more than 40 other countries and international agencies are discussing this and other proposals at the First Plenary Meeting of the Pilot Group on Innovative Development Finance Mechanisms, which is being held in Brazil. The meeting ends today.

Brazil plans to levy a US$ 2 tax on international flight tickets. According to the minister, the financial impact on the ticket price "will not amount to anything, but it can make a big difference for the poor and very poor who are dying."

Amorim pointed out that the rich countries already allocate 0.7% of their GDP (Gross Domestic Product) to international aid and that Brazil, although it is not obliged to make this type of contribution, has a "government commitment" to help raise funds for the IDPF.

The IDPF is expected to begin operations in September with a budget of US$ 300 million provided by Brazil, France, Chile, Norway, and the United Kingdom.

ABr

Tags:

You May Also Like

Brazil Arrests Suspected Murder of US Nun, Charges Him with Land Grabbing

A Brazilian  rancher suspected of the murder of rainforest activist Dorothy Stang, an American ...

Brazil’s School Lunch Program Gets a 2-Cents Boost

Beginning next month, Brazilian federal government outlays on the school lunch program will increase. ...

Brazil’s Countdown to Copenhagen

Brazil has followed a long and winding road to reach the Fifteenth Conference of ...

Brazil’s Fish Story: Big Plans to Develop Amazon’s Aquaculture

Brazil's Amazon currently produces approximately 200,000 tons of fishery products – around 20% of ...

Brazil Giant Carbocloro to Run on Pilot Software

Carbocloro Indústrias QuÀ­micas from Brazil has selected American-based Pilot Software for controlling its operations. ...

Brazil Tries to Build a House for 30,000 Homeless Indians

Around 30 thousand indigenous families that live close to large cities in the Northeast, ...

Wilderness and Warmth

The boy brings the beverage, the glasses and soon after, in a little plate, ...

In Memoriam of Brazil’s Elizeth: At 85, Still Heavenly and Moony

Divine. Moonlit. Magnificent. Elizeth Cardoso sprung from the stages of Rio de Janeiro and ...

Ronaldinho from Brazil

Brazil Might Be Big, But It Is Only Great in a Soccer Field

It’s just past five o’clock on a cold, dark afternoon in central London. Inside ...

Inside the Campaign to Demoralize Brazil’s House Speaker

The festival of explicit elitism has restarted, performed by the usual ones, those self-professed ...