Zimbabwe Levies Tax For AIDS Treatment
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In an effort to cope with "one of the world's worst AIDS crises,"
Zimbabwe last week decided to try "something no other government has"
-- levying a 3% tax on money earned by individuals and corporations
to pay for AIDS health care costs, reports the 'Philadelphia Inquirer'.
The government does not, however, have a concrete plan on how to
spend the money, but it is estimated that the tax could bring in more
than US$ 26 million a year.
Zimbabwe and Botswana "have been hit harder by AIDS than any other
countries" -- about 25% of the adult population of each nation is in-
fected with HIV. In Zimbabwe, the government estimates that more than
700 people die each week of AIDS-related diseases and that 500,000
children have been orphaned since the late 1980s.
Godfrey Sikipa, an Africa specialist at UNAIDS headquarters in Ge-
neva, says Zimbabwe's new tax "is a positive development by a heavily
affected AIDS country. It demonstrates that African countries aren't
just relying on donors" (Neely Tucker, Knight Ridder/Philadelphia In-
quirer, 26 Oct).
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