Unitaid

International Facility for the Purchase of Medicines (UNITAID)
founding	2006
founder	France , Brazil , Chile , Norway and the UK
Seat	Geneva , Switzerland
main emphasis	Health : HIV / AIDS , malaria , tuberculosis
method	Acquiring drugs at low prices through negotiations with pharmaceutical companies
Action space	Globally, 85% of the funds go to developing countries
people	Philippe Douste-Blazy , former French Foreign Minister and President of UNITAID Lelio Marmora, Executive Director
sales	$ 300 million (2007) mainly through a solidarity surcharge on airline tickets
Website	www.unitaid.org

The International Facility for the Purchase of Medicines , or UNITAID for short , is an international organization for the acquisition of medicines for HIV / AIDS , malaria and tuberculosis . It was founded in September 2006 on the initiative of Brazil and France and receives a large part of its budget through mechanisms of so-called innovative development aid financing , namely through a solidarity surcharge on flight tickets.

Due to increasing numbers of member states (29 in December 2009), UNITAID's budget is likely to exceed the limit of $ 500 million in 2009 (2007: $ 300 million), of which at least 85% must always be distributed to low-income countries. Hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva , the organization's greatest strength is the negotiation of low prices for drugs on the basis of its large financial resources and the associated high sales figures. UNITAID itself does not carry out any programs for the distribution of drugs, but relies on the operational forces of its partner organizations such as B. the Global Fund , the Clinton Foundation or the WHO.

history

All political steps towards the founding of UNITAID were preceded by two major reports on innovative financing mechanisms : The Report of the Technical Group on Innovative Financing Mechanisms was formulated at the request of the heads of state and government of Brazil, Chile , France and Spain and in September 2004 released; the Landau Report was commissioned by French President Jacques Chirac and appeared in December of the same year. Both documents present different models of innovative financing, although they equally emphasize the advantages (such as stability and predictability) of tax-based mechanisms. After the publication of the two reports, the countries involved in the process tried harder to draw the attention of the international community to the topic of innovative development aid mechanisms. In February 2005, for example, a joint declaration by the countries of Brazil, Chile, France, Germany and Spain was formulated in which ideas for realizing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were presented; six months later, in September 2005, a declaration was made at the UN summit on the MDGs in New York City , urging further examination of innovative funding. This in turn was followed in spring 2006 in Paris by an international conference on “Solidarity and globalization: innovative financing for development and against pandemics”. As a result of this conference, a pilot group of 44 countries was formed, and shortly afterwards France decided to introduce a solidarity tax on airline tickets (in force since July 1, 2006). Finally, on September 17, 2006, UNITAID was founded by Brazil, Chile, France, Norway and Great Britain - not all of which levy taxation on airline tickets in order to meet their obligations.

Since then, new countries have joined the initiative, including 18 African countries, which have been contributing to UNITAID's budget since February 2007.

aims

UNITAID's primary goal is to ensure global access to medicines for the three most deadly diseases - HIV / AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. Against this background, UNITAID's secondary goals are:

• negotiating low prices for existing drugs and purchasing them in bulk, and
• To provide incentives for the development and manufacture of special active ingredients that either do not yet exist or are too expensive, such as B. Exactly dosed treatment of HIV / AIDS-infected children or drugs for multi-resistant tuberculosis patients.

activities

UNITAID does not manage the distribution of medication itself, but enters into partnerships with other organizations. In these joint projects, it only provides the financial resources to buy the drugs and leaves the logistical tasks to the respective partner. As a result, UNITAID's activities are mainly focused on identifying current needs of potential recipients, negotiating long-term agreements with pharmaceutical companies and maintaining relationships with key players in their field (such as UNICEF , WHO, the Clinton Foundation, the Global Fund against HIV / AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, the Stop TB Partnership, or the Global Drug Facility / Green Light).

Results

Despite its relatively short history, UNITAID has already launched a number of projects and financially supports ongoing projects for its partners. Some examples:

• Anti-retroviral therapies for 100,000 AIDS-infected children in 34 African and Asian countries by the end of 2007 (price reduction achieved for the drugs: 40%; partner: Clinton Foundation)
• Funding of the treatment of 150,000 children with tuberculosis from September 2007 (partners: Stop TB Partnership and the Global Drug Facility)
• Financing of artemisinin -based combination therapies against malaria in 19 countries (partners: UNICEF and the Global Fund)
• UNITAID is also providing money for a WHO drug preparation / dosing program and will support UNICEF in providing pregnant women with HIV testing and special anti-retroviral treatments
• In July 2011, a license agreement for four AIDS drugs ( tenofovir , emtricitabine , cobicistat and elvitegravir ) was concluded with the manufacturer Gilead Sciences as part of the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) so that the drugs can be produced inexpensively in some countries.

structure

Due to its limited scope of action, UNITAID has a relatively lean internal structure:

• The President is UNITAID's official representative in the organization's external relations. The then French Foreign Minister, Philippe Douste-Blazy , has held this post since March 3, 2007 .
• The Secretariat is located in Geneva on the WHO premises and is responsible for running day-to-day business. On May 4, 2007, Dr. Jorge Antonio Zepeda Bermudez from Brazil took over the post of Executive Secretary.

• The board is the decision-making body of UNITAID. It approves the funds, sets up partnerships, formulates objectives and decides on action plans. The board has 10 members: five representatives from the founding states; a representative of an African country designated by the African Union ; one from an Asian country ( South Korea ); two from civil society ( NGOs and associations of people directly affected); and a representative from WHO.

See also

• UNAIDS

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Statement from the UNITAID Executive Board: Archived copy ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Archived copy ( memento of the original from April 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ Report of the Technical Group on Innovative Financing Mechanisms (PDF; 774 kB)
4. ↑ Landau Report (PDF; 828 kB)
5. ↑ Joint declaration (PDF; 145 kB)
6. ↑ Declaration at the UN summit ( Memento of the original of April 18, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
7. ↑ http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/france-priorities_1/development_2108/innovative-ways-to-fund-development_2109/unitaid-united-to-treat-those-in-need_8850.html
8. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated April 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
9. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated April 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
10. ↑ All data are taken from UNITAID's homepage: Archived copy ( memento of the original from April 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
11. ↑ Text of the license agreement Archived copy ( Memento of the original dated November 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
12. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated April 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 

Web links

• Official website offers a factsheet in French.
• French Foreign Ministry website on UNITAID in English
• Message of support from former US President Bill Clinton