The initiative was presented by the presidents of Brazil, Luiz Lula da Silva, and France, Jacques Chirac; the prime minister of Norway, Jens Stoltenberg; and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Also present were the foreign minister of Chile, Alejandro Foxley, British international cooperation minister, Gareth Thomas, and former U.S. president Bill Clinton.

In its first stage, the fund, called Unitaid, will focus on combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, three diseases that occur most frequently in the world's less developed countries.

The announcement coincided with the high-level meeting of the U.N. General Assembly to assess the progress of fighting poverty in the 50 Least Developed Countries (LDCs), which highlighted the incidence of pandemic diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria in preventing development.

"About one-quarter of those afflicted by HIV/AIDS live in the LDCs. The disease is primarily a matter of human wellbeing but it also threatens the development and retention of human capacity," Annan said in his latest report on LDCs.

"One of its secondary health effects is an increase in tuberculosis; even when HIV/AIDS is not a major cause, the incidence of tuberculosis remains high. Malaria remains similarly widespread in many LDC's, particularly in Africa," the report adds.

AIDS affects 40 million people worldwide, with 90 percent of new infections taking place in developing countries, while tuberculosis causes two million deaths a year, of which 500,000 are Africans, a Unitaid press release said.

"A child dies every 30 seconds from malaria in Africa," Unitaid stressed.

The new mechanism will have "a very, very small staff and very little overhead" based at the World Health Organisation in Geneva, said Bill Clinton, whose Clinton Foundation is also one of the pioneers of this project.

Unitaid will negotiate bulk shipments of drugs to developing countries directly with producers, on the basis of "high volume, low profit margins and prompt payment," Clinton explained.

Brazil's president Lula said Unitaid is the "concrete result" of the Action against Hunger and Poverty Initiative launched at the U.N. two years ago under the leadership of Brazil and which was supported by over 100 countries.

Subsequently, 79 countries endorsed the Declaration on Innovative Sources of Financing for Development, adopted by the U.N. General Assembly last year. France's president Chirac later proposed the establishment of a drug purchasing mechanism.

Innovative financing schemes were first discussed at the U.N. Financing for Development Conference held in Monterrey, Mexico in 2003. The funds must be raised on top of official development aid resources from donor countries.

"There will be no peace and prosperity in a world where millions of people are still extremely poor. The war we must wage is a war on hunger, poverty and other forms of exclusion, including lack of access to essential drugs," Brazi's Lula said Tuesday.

"Unitaid's regular and predictable sources of financing will ensure its value added and effectiveness. As of now, 18 countries have announced plans to introduce a solidarity levy on airline tickets. Other similar instruments, including additional long-term budgetary resources will also be welcome," the agency said in a statement.

Chile was the first country to start charging the solidarity airport tax two years ago, foreign minister Foxley said, although disbursement of the accumulated funds to Unitaid needs parliamentary approval in that South American country.

President Chirac estimated that in France, where the tax started being charged to travelers in July, the new levy would yield 15 million euro on the first year and 200 million over the next four years.

Norway will assist the fund both from budgetary sources and air tickets taxes, which he calculated wou