Organisers of the AIDS 2014 conference in Melbourne are awaiting confirmation of how many delegates were aboard the Malaysian Airlines flight shot down over eastern Ukraine. Tracey Withers, 49, said she did not want to become “bitter or twisted” over the loss of her brother Glenn Thomas, a media officer for the World Health Organisation. “I’m trying not to get too involved in how I feel about what they’ve done because I don’t want it to eat me up inside,” she said. No words can adequately express the sorrow the world feels over this loss. “Reports Joep Lange died in Malaysian plane crash today, with other scientists on way to AIDS_conference. He said he was happy for the solidarity expressed by his colleagues and that the "decision was reached unanimously." Writing on the Brussels-based Euractiv.com website he says Europe’s leaders have "not rushed" to respond to America’s calls for increased defence spending and would rather confront Russia as they did in the 20th century – "from under America’s protective wing." Text available soon at http://t.co/ycxrbnwAYH. “I have worked very closely with him in a number of clinical research projects. People like Joep change the course of epidemics.’’ Dr Yasmin could not be immediately contacted. Australia lost 37 citizens and residents on the flight, which was carrying 298 passengers from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur; the Netherlands and Malaysia were the worst-affected nations. “He just had his birthday, he was going to plan all sorts of celebrations.” 
 
 Nicole Schiegg, a former Senior Advisor at USAID, tweeted: “I am still stunned. ‘‘How do we measure how much a person has done for humanity? The departure was delayed by last-minute wrangling over the handover of the black boxes, which had originally been scheduled for 9.00pm local time last night (7.00pm UK time). International Aids Society president-elect Chris Beyrer issued a brief statement outside the Melbourne Convention Centre, where the world’s leading HIV researchers and scientists, former US president Bill Clinton and philanthropist Bob Geldolf will gather for next week’s conference.
– As many as 108 of the 298 people killed on Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 were researchers, activists, and health workers bound for a major AIDS conference in Melbourne, delegates have been told. Among them was Dutch researcher Joep Lange, one of the world's top HIV experts. He had been researching the disease for more than 30 years; one conference delegate tells the Australian he was "the father of AIDS research in the developing world." Another expert tells the Guardian that "there were some serious HIV leaders on that plane" and that the crash "will have ramifications globally" on research. At the 20th International AIDS Conference, "it's going to be a very somber week," American HIV activist Sean Strub says. "The struggle with the epidemic is bigger than any one individual, but the collective loss of so many important people is one that is emotionally devastating." The premier of the state of Victoria says the doomed plane flying from Amsterdam was supposed to connect with a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. "The shooting down of a passenger aircraft full of innocent civilians is an unspeakable act that will forever leave a dark stain on our history," he says. The Telegraph reports that out of the passengers and crew whose nationalities have been verified, there were 154 Dutch citizens, 27 Australians, 23 Malaysians, 11 Indonesians, six British citizens, four Belgians, four Germans, three Filipinos, and one Canadian.