PHM-Exch> MSF calls on proposed financial transaction tax to include money for health

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: David Legge <D.Legge at latrobe.edu.au>
*From:* Mara Kardas-Nelson <marajenn at gmail.com>

 Copies of a new report released by MSF today highlighting the need for a
portion of monies from the proposed financial transaction tax (FTT) to go to
health can be found at:
<http://www.msfaccess.org/sites/default/files/MSF_assets/CAME/FiveLives/Access_Briefing_FiveLives_ENG_2011_FINAL.pdf>
http://www.msfaccess.org/sites/default/files/MSF_assets/CAME/FiveLives/Access_Briefing_FiveLives_ENG_2011_FINAL.pdf.
An accompanying press release is included below.


*Proposed EU financial transaction tax should help bail out global health*



*GENEVA, 20 October 2011* – The financial transaction tax (FTT) proposed by
France and Germany and due to be discussed at Sunday’s European Council
meeting and next month’s G20 Summit, could help save millions of lives if a
percentage were allocated to global health, according to an issue brief
released today by the international medical humanitarian organisation
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).




MSF’s issue brief, *Five Lives*, outlines through five personal stories the
transformative impact an FTT allocation to global health could have. The
report looks at interventions that can prevent a child from becoming
severely malnourished to begin with; protect children from deadly measles
outbreaks; prevent a baby from acquiring HIV through childbirth; get people
on life-saving tuberculosis treatment sooner; and save lives while
dramatically reducing the spread of HIV through treatment.



It is estimated the funds raised by an EU FTT could reach 55 billion euros
per year. Even a portion of that sum would be a significant boost to
tackling global health crises.



The idea of an FTT is gaining political traction at the very moment global
health is showing the strains of reduced funding.  Funding for HIV, for
example, fell for the first time in 2009, and again in 2010. The Global Fund
to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria was forced to skip a year of grants for the
first time in its history because of a severe financial shortfall. Funds
from an FTT could help bridge the gap between what is needed and what has
actually been given - and thus help countries diagnose more patients with
TB, switch to better malaria protocols, or put more patients on HIV
treatment.  This could have a dramatic impact for HIV in particular, as
recent research shows that HIV treatment is also effective at preventing new
infections, and funds will be needed if governments are able to meet their
commitment to more than double the number of people on treatment within five
years.
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