Officials from Namibia's finance and tourism ministries met with diplomats from the country's French Embassy to discuss the implementation of an airline tax to benefit UNITAID.
UNITAID an organization that aims to increase access to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria drugs in developing countries, The Namibian/AllAfrica.com reports.UNITAID was formed by France and 19 other nations that have set aside a portion of their airline tax revenues for treatment programs.
Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, the minister of finance, said that Namibia has signed an agreement that commits the country "to introduce some form of solidarity levy to support UNITAID."
Yann Wang -- charge d'affaires of the French Embassy in Windhoek, Namibia -- said that the U.N. Millennium Development Goals -- which include reducing the burden of HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria by 2015 -- could not be reached without innovative funding mechanisms. "Each year we record a $50 billion gap to achieve that goal ... this must be corrected," Wang said.
Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said that the burden of HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria in Namibia hinders the country's efforts to reach the Vision 2030 development goals, as well as the MDGs.
Source-Kaiser Family Foundation
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