July 19, 2010 Although 5.2 million people are now on life-saving HIV medication, we won’t be able to reach the 10 million that still need treatment unless new ways to finance global health succeed, according to President Bill Clinton.

With some governments flat-lining their health aid budgets, President Clinton opened the XVIII International AIDS Conference in Vienna by introducing a new hope - citizen-based initiatives like MASSIVEGOOD that can complement traditional aid with a new form of funding. See the webcast below

As AIDS activists gathered in Austria’s capital, President Clinton’s opening speech made note of the significant successes in combating the pandemic. Among the good news this week, the number of patients receiving “anti-retroviral treatment” – which can allow patients to live full and productive lives – has increase twelve-fold, according to a study just released by the World Health Organization.

For President Clinton, such victories are the product of new ways to raise money, including “broad-based giving by private citizens in huge numbers and large amounts, manifested most clearly for me by UNITAID, which is coming up on its fourth birthday.” Financed by a small tax on airlines tickets in several countries, UNITAID has raised over $1 billion for the purchase of treatment for HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

“Now the countries who have not found it feasible to contribute [to UNITAID] are being given the the opportunity to participate, through a voluntary non-profit arm which is called MASSIVEGOOD,” said President Clinton. “Essentially what happened is, three of the biggest airline bookers in the world [Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport] have given us a box people can check when they book an airline ticket to make a small, voluntary contribution,” he said.

“I’m convinced hundreds of millions more dollars a year can be raised easily,” said President Clinton. See the webcast here: