The news that Joep Lange, one of the HIV community’s leading researchers and a former president of the International AIDS Society, was aboard flight MH17, lost with everyone aboard in eastern Ukraine yesterday, is truly terrible. Original reports also suggested that up to one hundred delegates of the AIDS 2014 conference in Melbourne were also on the flight, but so far only six delegates have been named – we must hope that number does not increase further. Joep’s wife was accompanying him on the trip, and died with him. Charles Boucher, Annemarie Wensing and Antoinet van Kessel, of the European Society for translational Antiviral Research, have written: “Joep has been of incredible value for the field and has made huge efforts to make antiretroviral therapy accessible throughout all areas of the world. He touched our lives with his energy, vision and knowledge. Our thoughts are with their daughters, family members and team members.” Dr Steve Taylor, Medical Director of Saving Lives, added: “Joep was a true leader in the global fight against HIV/AIDS, and our thoughts go out to his family and all the families who have lost a loved one in this tragic incident.”
Flight MH17 Condolences
