Clinton joins Chirac's disease fight

Many countries, however, decided not to sign up to the compulsory tax, and French donors now pay much of the cost of a scheme that helps the United Nations to fund treatment for AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
Clinton, whose own foundation also works in the same field, said that from next year American passengers would themselves be able to elect to pay the levy, even if travelling from a country which does not enforce it.
"There is no question that huge numbers of people will participate in this. They understand that it doesn't cost much and that 100 percent will go to save lives," Clinton told reporters in the French capital.
Currently, France, its neighbours Britain, Spain and Norway and 26 other nations mainly in Africa and Latin America have compulsory UNITAID schemes, while the Bill Clinton Foundation contributes to the fund.
UNITAID president Philippe Douste-Blazy, a former French foreign minister, thanked Clinton, and said the scheme would provide drugs for an extra 100,000 child AIDS victims per year, on top of 170,000 already under treatment.
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