On Sept 23, during the UN General Assembly, major players in the travel and tourism sector came together with UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and World Bank President Robert Zoellick, to announce MASSIVEGOOD - an innovative travel-related fundraising initiative that will help finance health care for the world’s poor.

The program – managed by The Millennium Foundation for Innovative Finance for Health – will allow travelers to give a small $2 voluntary ‘micro-contribution’ every time they purchase travel services.

The contributions will go towards fighting HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in developing countries, chanelled through a WHO-hosted organization, UNITAID.

The technology solution for MASSIVEGOOD was developed by Amadeus and can be integrated into all GDS systems and embedded in the regular booking system for airline tickets and other travel reservations. As a result, MASSIVEGOOD will make it easy for everyone who travels to make their micro-contributions through a simple click each time they book their reservation, whether online or through an agent.

ignatories include the World Travel & Tourism Council; Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport; Opodo, Orbitz and Travelocity; American Express Business Travel and Carlson Wagonlit Travel; Voyageurs du Monde; Mondial Assistance, and the Global Business Coalition on HIV/Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

MASSIVEGOOD is on track for launch in early 2010 in USA, UK, Spain, Germany and Austria, and has the potential to raise up to $1 billion in additional funding for global health during its first four years of operation.

For more information, visit www.massivegood.org/ and www.millennium-foundation.org/