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Aids conference honours deceased colleagues

MH17 The 20th International Aids Conference opened in Melbourne on Sunday with delegates observing a moment of silence to honour colleagues killed in the Malaysia Airlines crash en route to the event.

"For the next minute, let our silence represent our sadness, our anger and our solidarity," conference co-chair and Nobel laureate Francoise Barre-Sinoussi said.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said via video link: "I pay my highest tribute to all those who did not complete their journey to Melbourne."

He offered his condolences and urged delegates to take strength from the dedication of their peers on flight MH17 who endeavoured to eliminate HIV/Aids.

Around 12,000 delegates from the fields of science, social activism, policymaking and business are expected at the five-day event.

The Aids 2014 agenda grapples with issues that have arisen in the three decades since the HIV was first isolated by a team of French scientists that included Barre-Sinoussi.

Delgates in Melbourne plan to explore next steps in implementing HIV/Aids treatment and will focus on the Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), an infection found in an estimated one quarter of HIV patients.

"Melbourne is certainly the place where we will speak about a cure for HCV," Barre-Sinoussi said.

Aids 2014 will see presentations and discussions on the search for a vaccine or cure, social and policy interventions and target groups such as newborns, adolescents, prostitutes, indigenous people, gays and transgender individuals.

UNAIDS executive director Michel Sidibe said more has been achieved over the past three years to curb the disease than in the last 25.

Although the number of new infections seems to have stabilized since the peak of Aids-related deaths in the mid-1990s, Sidibe warned that 19 of the 35 million people currently living with HIV/Aids are unaware of their status.

Aids 2014 also includes a special youth programme with a strong focus on sub-Saharan Africa - the region worst-affected by AIDS.

"Adolescence is really a critical issue for the future because infants that were treated are becoming adolescents," said Barre-Sinoussi.

- dpa

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