PARIS, June 29, 2006 (AFP) - A pioneering French tax on airline tickets to raise money for medicines in the developing world takes effect from Saturday, though only a handful of countries have indicated they will follow suit.

Passengers boarding aircraft in France will pay a surcharge of between EUR one and 40 (1.25 and 50 dollars) from July 1 depending on their destination, and the money raised will go to an international fund to buy treatments for AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

The "air-ticket solidarity levy" has been vigorously promoted by President Jacques Chirac, but the airline industry is opposed to the scheme and, of France's EU partners, only Luxembourg has said it will implement the measure.

After an international conference in Paris in March, French officials said 10 other countries had signed up to the initiative: Brazil, Chile, Cyprus, Congo, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Madagascar, Mauritius, Nicaragua and Norway.

They have since been joined by Gabon, which will also introduce a charge on Saturday, of EUR two on international flights in business and first class.

Britain says it is in principle in favour of an air-ticket levy but already has one in place that raises money for debt relief. Other rich nations such as the United States, Canada and Germany have rejected French overtures.

France hopes to raise EUR 200 million a year for an International Drug Purchase Facility, also known as Unitaid, whose function will be to bulk-buy medicines for countries — mainly in Africa — that cannot afford them.

According to the French foreign ministry, between six and eight million people die every year from the three major epidemics, many of whom could be saved if given access to treatments.

"A child dies every 30 seconds in Africa and no-one cares," said Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, who has led an international lobbying effort to raise support for the drugs fund.

Among his successes was a deal with the International Football Federation (FIFA) under which balls bearing the Unitaid logo are exchanged by captains at the start of each match in the World Cup finals in Germany.

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