NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- A group of countries led by France plan to raise at least $300 million next year, mostly through taxes on airline tickets, to help pay for the treatment of children with AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, The New York Times reports in its Tuesday edition, citing a senior French official.
The countries, acting through a Geneva-based organization called Unitaid, plan to pool their buying power and have asked former U.S. President Bill Clinton's foundation to negotiate with drug companies for volume discounts, the paper reported.
The countries - France, Brazil, the U.K., Norway and Chile - will announce the new undertaking Tuesday at the U.N., The Times reported.
France is the dominant donor to Unitaid, providing $250 million of the $300 million for next year, all from an airline ticket tax it began collecting this summer, the report said.

Airfare tax plan for Aids drugs

New York - France, Brazil, Britain, Norway and Chile on Tuesday announced a tax on airline tickets to raise $300m to buy Aids drugs for patients who cannot afford them.

Representatives from the five nations, including Presidents Jacques Chirac of France and Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, were present for the announcement at the United Nations.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and former US president Bill Clinton also attended.

Annan called the initiative to tax airline tickets an "innovative" way to raise money for Aids patients.

"It can provide a continuing source of funding," Annan said. "It is a real and immediate tool to fight HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria."

The plan, known under the acronym Unitaid and based in Geneva, can help pay for treatment of 100 000 children living with the Aids virus and another 100 000 who have become resistant to the antiretroviral Aids drugs.