New mechanisms to fund global health programs receive rough reception.

For now, rely on Bill Gates. Delegates to a special World Health Summit session on “innovative financing mechanisms” were agreed that there is a desperate need to loosen the purse strings of governments, corpor ations and individuals so as to significantly bolster global health programs. They were equally agreed, during a “Funding Global Health: Can Innovative Mechanisms Save the Poor?” panel discussion in Berlin, Germany, on Oct. 9 that there is a compelling rationale for more accountability from both the international agencies that deliver health programming, and from the developing or poor countries that receive it but are often unwilling to themselves directly invest in the health of their own people or are occasionally run by corrupt governments. The delegates were less enamoured, though, of several suggestions that have been made to generate vast new sums of money, such as an “excess profits” tax on banks and highly profitable multinationals; a 0.005% “Robin Hood” tax on all financial transactions that proponents say would raise as much as US$33 billion annually; higher “sin” taxes on tobacco and alcohol; or new “fun” taxes on airline, movie, sports and other entertainment tickets. They did, however, approve of the philanthropic efforts of American industrialists Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, as well as the fundraising firepower of artists such as Bono. But they also noted that relying on the good will of corporate giants isn’t a particularly effective strategy in Europe and that there’s a limit to how much can be raised through charity concerts, although every little bit helps. The rationale for a significant expansion of funding for international health programs is overwhelming, argued panelist Dr. Peter Piot, director of the England-based London School