Comment
AIDS 2014—how the community responded to MH17 The news came through as we turned on our mobile phones, just minutes after the news of the MH17 plane crash broke. The circumstances of the crash were unknown at that time, and worried relatives had tried to contact many on our flight. We landed in Melbourne at 2am on a delayed Malaysian Airlines flight 129 from Kuala Lumpur. The same flight a day later should have carried several natives of the city and six delegates for the International AIDS Society’s 2014 meeting who died when MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine. Our tiredness and relief at being off the flight quickly turned to uncomprehending shock and disbelief. We had all flown Malaysian Airlines; several of us had watched Ukraine pass underneath on the inflight information channel 24 hours before the same journey was brutally curtailed for 298 other people. And for those of us on our way to the conference, we recognised that inevitably some of our colleagues would not be coming. AIDS 2014 began in the most terrible circumstances. The death of nearly 300 people shot down for no reason, for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, would have seemed tragic to any observer. But for many at the conference, the loss is deeply personal. Pim de Kuijer, Joep Lange, Lucie van Mens, Martine de Schutter, Glenn Thomas, Jacqueline van Tongeren were friends, colleagues, associates, inspiration. The word community is used a lot in medicine and science, but it would be hard to think of another group of people gathered for what is a specialist academic conference who feel
so deeply interconnected, among whom such loss would resonate with such amplitude. Not just for the colleagues who died when MH17 was shot down, but, by association, all those who had died on that flight on July 17, 2014. But in such community, there is strength. The decision to continue with the conference despite the uncertainty of the scale or circumstances of our loss was the right path. People coalesced around satellite symposia throughout the weekend of July 18 and 19, sadness and anger united everyone. Melbourne welcomed us, recognising that the IAS delegates were united in loss with Australian citizens. The opening ceremony on Sunday paid tribute. Those six people were coming for a conference, and it is right that a conference went ahead—as a tribute to those empty seats in the auditorium and to all those who lost their lives on flight MH17. Now the conference is underway. People are doing what they came to do, with extra fire in their bellies. One sees occasional empathetic glances, consolatory touches on the arm, lingering hugs. There is much sadness and grief, but there is also a feeling that we must make 2014 the most productive AIDS conference yet—and in memory of those who died, the AIDS Community will.
Published Online July 22, 2014 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ S1473-3099(14)70783-2 See World Report Lancet 2014; 384: 293 See Obituary Lancet 2014; 384: 302
Peter Hayward The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 32 Jamestown Road, London, NW1 7BY, UK
Corrections Shah SK, Persaud D, Wendler DS, et al. Research into a functional cure for HIV in neonates: the need for ethical foresight. Lancet Infect Dis 2014; 14: 893–98—In this Personal View, the following funding information should have been added to the Acknowledgments section: “Work on this manuscript by DP and HT was supported in part by the Johns Hopkins Center for AIDS Research, funded by the National Institutes of Health (grant number 1P30AI094189).” These changes have been made to the online version as of Aug 25, 2014. The print version is correct.
See Personal View page 893
Mfinanga SG, Kirenga BJ, Chanda DM, et al. Early versus delayed initiation of highly active antiretroviral therapy for HIV-positive adults with newly diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis (TB-HAART): a prospective, international, randomised, placebo-controlled trial. Lancet Infect Dis 2014; 14: 563–71—In this Article, the numbers at risk and events reported in figure 2 were incorrect. Furthermore, figure 2C shows patients with CD3 counts of 350 cells per μL or greater. These corrections have been made to the online version as of Aug 25, 2014.
www.thelancet.com/infection Vol 14 September 2014
793
AIDS 2014—how the community responded to MH17 The news came through as we turned on our mobile phones, just minutes after the news of the MH17 plane crash broke. The circumstances of the crash were unknown at that time, and worried relatives had tried to contact many on our flight. We landed in Melbourne at 2am on a delayed Malaysian Airlines flight 129 from Kuala Lumpur. The same flight a day later should have carried several natives of the city and six delegates for the International AIDS Society’s 2014 meeting who died when MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine. Our tiredness and relief at being off the flight quickly turned to uncomprehending shock and disbelief. We had all flown Malaysian Airlines; several of us had watched Ukraine pass underneath on the inflight information channel 24 hours before the same journey was brutally curtailed for 298 other people. And for those of us on our way to the conference, we recognised that inevitably some of our colleagues would not be coming. AIDS 2014 began in the most terrible circumstances. The death of nearly 300 people shot down for no reason, for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, would have seemed tragic to any observer. But for many at the conference, the loss is deeply personal. Pim de Kuijer, Joep Lange, Lucie van Mens, Martine de Schutter, Glenn Thomas, Jacqueline van Tongeren were friends, colleagues, associates, inspiration. The word community is used a lot in medicine and science, but it would be hard to think of another group of people gathered for what is a specialist academic conference who feel
so deeply interconnected, among whom such loss would resonate with such amplitude. Not just for the colleagues who died when MH17 was shot down, but, by association, all those who had died on that flight on July 17, 2014. But in such community, there is strength. The decision to continue with the conference despite the uncertainty of the scale or circumstances of our loss was the right path. People coalesced around satellite symposia throughout the weekend of July 18 and 19, sadness and anger united everyone. Melbourne welcomed us, recognising that the IAS delegates were united in loss with Australian citizens. The opening ceremony on Sunday paid tribute. Those six people were coming for a conference, and it is right that a conference went ahead—as a tribute to those empty seats in the auditorium and to all those who lost their lives on flight MH17. Now the conference is underway. People are doing what they came to do, with extra fire in their bellies. One sees occasional empathetic glances, consolatory touches on the arm, lingering hugs. There is much sadness and grief, but there is also a feeling that we must make 2014 the most productive AIDS conference yet—and in memory of those who died, the AIDS Community will.
Published Online July 22, 2014 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ S1473-3099(14)70783-2 See World Report Lancet 2014; 384: 293 See Obituary Lancet 2014; 384: 302
Peter Hayward The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 32 Jamestown Road, London, NW1 7BY, UK
Corrections Shah SK, Persaud D, Wendler DS, et al. Research into a functional cure for HIV in neonates: the need for ethical foresight. Lancet Infect Dis 2014; 14: 893–98—In this Personal View, the following funding information should have been added to the Acknowledgments section: “Work on this manuscript by DP and HT was supported in part by the Johns Hopkins Center for AIDS Research, funded by the National Institutes of Health (grant number 1P30AI094189).” These changes have been made to the online version as of Aug 25, 2014. The print version is correct.
See Personal View page 893
Mfinanga SG, Kirenga BJ, Chanda DM, et al. Early versus delayed initiation of highly active antiretroviral therapy for HIV-positive adults with newly diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis (TB-HAART): a prospective, international, randomised, placebo-controlled trial. Lancet Infect Dis 2014; 14: 563–71—In this Article, the numbers at risk and events reported in figure 2 were incorrect. Furthermore, figure 2C shows patients with CD3 counts of 350 cells per μL or greater. These corrections have been made to the online version as of Aug 25, 2014.
www.thelancet.com/infection Vol 14 September 2014
793
