Huffington Post: How Airline Tickets and Oil Barrels Can End Extreme Poverty
Katherine Keating, contributing editor of The WorldPost and executive producer of the One on One Series

“…UNITAID is a global health organization that utilizes innovative financing to increase funding for international development, more specifically; greater access to treatments and diagnostics for HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis in low-income countries. … UNITAID was conceived by French President Jacques Chirac and Brazilian President Lula. The organization is chaired by Philippe Douste-Blazy, former foreign minister under President Nicolas Sarkozy and current under secretary general of the United Nations. Philippe Douste-Blazy and President Sarkozy have been instrumental in supporting UNITAID and as a consequence, France is now the largest donor to UNITAID. The air ticket levy alone has collected over one billion Euros in France since it was implemented in 2006…” The piece includes a video interview with Douste-Blazy (6/23).