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Professional societies come together in support of physicians lost in plane crash
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The Infectious Diseases Society of America’s Center for Global Health Policy and the HIV Medicine Association issued a joint statement that expressed sympathy for the loss of the nearly 300 lives, including an unconfirmed number of physicians who were en route to the 20th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, Australia.
“The IDSA Center for Global Health Policy and the HIV Medicine Association is mourning with family members and friends of those who died in the Malaysian Airlines MH17 crash over Ukraine today. We are saddened and horrified by the senseless tragedy and irreplaceable loss of 298 valuable and promising lives, among colleagues who were International AIDS Conference and whose work confronting HIV and TB globally sought to make the world a healthier, safer and more just place for all people,” the statement read.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that approximately 100 meeting delegates were on the plane, including former president of the International AIDS Society Joep Lange, MD, PhD, professor of medicine, head of the department of global health at the Academic Medical Center (AMC), University of Amsterdam, and executive scientific director of the Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development.
“Joep was a calm, soft-voiced and refined man but one that could and did speak truth to power as a committed advocate of universal access to HIV care worldwide,” said Infectious Disease News Chief Medical Editor Paul A. Volberding, MD. “He was a devoted father of five daughters. He died with his close colleague Jacqueline van Tongeren and others traveling to the conference of which he was a past president, as am I. The unspeakable terrorist act that stole nearly 300 innocent lives, including our friends and colleagues, is beyond comprehension. We morn the loss of our dear friends and colleagues.”
Paul A. Volberding
WHO also confirmed the loss of Glenn Thomas from the agency’s department of communications.
“We also are personally grieving the loss of Glenn Thomas, who worked with the World Health Organization to raise awareness of health care in Africa and of the global health threat of tuberculosis,” the IDSA statement read.
A statement from the International AIDS Society (IAS), convenors of the 20th International AIDS Conference, otherwise known as AIDS 2014, said the organization is continuing to work with the authorities to clarify how the tragic loss of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 affects the conference delegates, conference partners and the HIV/AIDS community as a whole.
“In recognition of our colleagues' dedication to the fight against HIV/AIDS, the conference will go ahead as planned and will include opportunities to reflect and remember those we have lost,” according to the IAS statement.
Updates from the IAS will be posted on the AIDS 2014 site.