International News Briefs
Hundreds of HIV-positive people disrupted the opening of the biennial International AIDS Conference in Vienna on July 18 by staging a massive die-in.
Blogger Rod McCullom said the protesters "were calling attention to the decreased funding of HIV/AIDS programs by the G8 leaders, as well as the 'slowing and scaling back (of) their commitments toward universal access to HIV care, treatment and prevention.'"
The protesters said U.S. President Barack Obama's new "National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States" contained no new funding for fighting the epidemic.
The AIDS conference lasted from July 18-23.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton spoke at the conference on July 19, calling for more efficient use of AIDS funding. "I think in too many countries too much money goes to pay for too many people to go to too many meetings, get on too many airplanes," he said, adding that too much is spent on studies and reports that sit on shelves. "Keep in mind that every dollar we waste today puts a life at risk."
Thousands of HIV/AIDS activists also rallied downtown Vienna with singer Annie Lennox to demand more rights for people with the disease on July 20 as part of the conference. The activists – many carrying banners, waving flags and blowing on whistles – appealed for an end to discrimination and universal access to treatment for all those infected with the virus.
Gathered in Vienna's famous Heroes Square, or Heldenplatz, the crowd also urged governments around the world to increase their funding for fighting the illness.
Lennox, who is a spokeswoman for the U.N. agency fighting HIV/AIDS.
The number of people taking crucial AIDS drugs climbed by a record 1.2 million last year to 5.2 million overall, the World Health Organization said July 19. Between 2003 and 2010, the number of patients receiving lifesaving antiretroviral treatment increased twelve-fold, according to the Geneva-based body.
"We are very encouraged by this increase. It is indeed the biggest increase that we have seen in any single year," said Gottfried Hirnschall, director of the WHO's HIV/AIDS department.
