Dutch clinical virologist Joep Lange — who was among 298 passengers who died in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 — worked since the early 1990s to deliver HIV drugs deep into the world’s poorest countries.
“His contribution to HIV research and treatment and his determination to ensure access of those treatments for people in Africa and Asia, cannot be underestimated,” said David Cooper, an AIDS researcher at University of New South Wales in Sydney.
Lange was a clinical virologist at University of Amsterdam.
His research explored HIV drug resistance, the role of anti-retroviral drugs in preventing transmission of virus from mother to child and other issues related to managing AIDS. His work helped to establish the safety and effectiveness of treating patients with multiple antiviral drugs, which is now standard.
In 2000, Lange helped launch the non-profit PharmAccess Foundation to bring anti-retroviral drugs to sub-Saharan Africa, where the HIV epidemic was in full swing and most patients remained untreated.
The foundation has since broadened its reach, creating a fund that subsidises health insurance for about 1,00,000 people in Nigeria, Tanzania and Kenya.
“He was very selfless. He believed we have made great scientific progress and people have to benefit from it,” Robin Weiss, a virologist at University College London, emphasised.
