“We’ve already received confirmation that close friends and collaborators were on this flight and we fear that we will receive many more,” said Dr Philippe Duneton, Executive Director ai of UNITAID. “We send our condolences to all the affected families during this very hard time.”

“The as-of-yet unconfirmed number of people on the way to the AIDS conference in Melbourne were going with one single goal in mind: How to save and improve the lives of 35 million people with HIV around the world and finally put an end to the epidemic. They had dedicated their lives to fostering international solidarity and cooperation to reach this cause. The fact that we could have lost so many dedicated souls at once is unthinkable.”