Was the Cure for AIDS on the Malaysian Flight?

Drugreporter's new movie, filmed at the AIDS 2014 conference in Melbourne, explores the most effective tools for ending the HIV epidemic

The international AIDS conference was overshadowed by the tragedy of flight MH17. Six well-known HIV researchers and activists were on board, on their way to Melbourne, when separatist forces shot down the plane. According to some speculation, widely publicised in the media, “The cure for AIDS might have been on the plane”. But are we really that close to ending the HIV epidemic? Does it depend on one “secret formula” that might have been travelling in the suitcase of Dr. Joep Lange, former head of the International AIDS Society? Not really. The reality is, as usual, far more complicated. But in a sense, all these six professionals knew the antidotes for HIV, and worked hard to raise awareness of them. The Drugreporter film crew attended the conference to find out what works to end AIDS for good and all.  

Text: Péter Sárosi
Video: István Gábor Takács and Péter Sárosi

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