Health GAP • Family Care International • Partners in Health • Treatment Action Group • RESULTS

PRESS STATEMENT
For Immediate Release October 2 2009

For more information contact: Asia Russell +1 267 475 2645 or asia@healthgap.org
Sue Perez +1 202 615 8831 or sue.perez@treatmentactiongroup.org

Civil Society Challenges Dominique Strauss Kahn to State His Support for a Financial Transaction Levy to Save Lives

At the start of the fall meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Istanbul, a coalition of public health and development organizations called on the Managing Director of the IMF, Dominique Strauss Kahn, to announce his support for efforts to mitigate the impact of the global recession through levies on financial transactions. According to economic experts these efforts could raise billions in additional funding for health and development.

At the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh, heads of state charged the IMF with exploring the feasibility of levies on financial transactions. This move comes after recent expressions of support for the concept from French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Research by various economic experts have shown that such levies are both technically possible and likely effective.

"Donors as well as developing countries must keep their promises to scale up government investments in health," said Asia Russell of Health GAP. "But additional innovative funding streams are urgently needed if we are to scale up to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015."

Multiple models for financial transaction taxes exist; in particular, a Currency Transaction Levy (CTL) for Health has been recently described by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner as an effective means to raise additional funding. A Currency Transaction Levy for Health, unlike other taxes on financial transactions, would be feasible with only the participation of a limited number of countries.

Activists noted that Strauss Kahn has stated that he intends to prioritize the interests of developing countries in recovery from the global recession. At a recent speech he said "Rich countries need to step up their support to poorer countries, so they can quickly rebound from the crisis that came from the advanced economies." (Read it here)

"It's time for Strauss Kahn to match his words with action: we are calling on him to unequivocally state the IMF's endorsement of a tax on financial transactions for health, in order to benefit those most devastated by the economic crisis," said Ann Starrs of Family Care International.

END

NOTE FOR EDITORS:

1. 125 NGOs from around the world recently endorsed a call for the creation of a Currency Transaction Levy for Health. The Declaration is available here.

2. The Communiqué released from the Pittsburgh G20 Summit (available here) requests the IMF to "prepare a report for our next meeting with regard to the range of options countries have adopted or are considering as to how the financial sector could make a fair and substantial contribution toward paying for any burdens associated
with government interventions to repair the banking system."

3. A briefing on the concept of a Currency Transaction Levy for Health is available here and a September 2007 research paper on rates for and revenues that could be generated by a Currency Transaction Levy can be found at http://www.stampoutpoverty.org/?lid=10738

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