Vladimir Putin's AIDS Crisis
On Sunday 12,000 of the worlds top scientists, physicians, advocates and other experts convened in Melbourne, Australia, to open the 2014 International AIDS Conference, an annual gathering dedicated to the prevention, treatment and eradication of one of the most pervasive infectious diseases afflicting young gay men like me at home and abroad.
Six leaders in HIV and AIDS research, treatment and advocacy, however, never made it.
Among the 298 victims of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 who lost their lives Thursday when Russian-backed separatists allegedly gunned down the airliner from the sky was Joep Lange, a pioneer in the field who had been researching the virus since 1983 when first cases of HIV/AIDS emerged into public consciousness.
According to obituaries eulogizing this prominent former president of the International AIDS Society, Lange was the architect and principal investigator of several pivotal trials in antiretroviral therapy and the prevention of mother-to child HIV transmission in the developed and developing world.
http://www.advocate.com/commentary/2014/07/24/op-ed-vladimir-putins-aids-crisis