Top AIDS experts were in MH17

The world of AIDS research was in shock on Friday after dozens of leading HIV experts were feared killed when a Malaysian plane was shot down over Ukraine, fuelling concerns that research on curing the disease could suffer. Among them was Joep Lange, who researched the condition for more than 30 years and was considered a giant in the field, admired for his tireless advocacy for access to affordable AIDS drugs for HIV positive patients living in poor countries. ‘Global health and the AIDS response have lost one of their great leaders,’ Peter Piot, director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a former executive director of UNAIDS, has said. ‘Joep Lange was one of the most creative AIDS researchers, a humanist, and tireless organiser, dedicated to his patients and to defeating AIDS in the poorest countries.’ The United Nations AIDS program, UNAIDS, said it feared ‘some of the finest academics, health-care workers and activists in the AIDS response may have perished’ on the plane. As many as 100 people heading to the AIDS 2014 conference in Melbourne, Australia, were on the doomed flight, Fairfax Media reported, including Lange, a former president of the International AIDS Society (IAS) which organises the event. The conference, due to start on Sunday, features former US President Bill Clinton among its keynote speakers and is expecting around 12,000 participants, according to AFP.