Potocnik emphasises crucial role of science in fight against AIDS
EU Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik opened an exhibition to commemorate World AIDS Day by emphasising the crucial role played by science in the search for solutions to the deadly disease. He also stressed the need to work together in order to meet the global challenge posed by the pandemic. Entitled 'Hands of Hope', the exhibition features over 20 black and white photographic prints by Ivo Saglietti of AIDS sufferers in Africa, as well as researchers in laboratories in the West. Mr Saglietti was the winner of the World Press Photo award in 1992. The exhibition was jointly organised by the European Commission and the MUVAPRED research consortium, which has received an EU contribution of €15.25 million in an attempt to deliver new mucosal vaccines administered without the use of syringes. Mr Potocnik said: 'I think the photographs we see here illustrate really well the positive contribution that science can make to our world. In the midst of suffering researchers are reaching out a hand of hope.' 'The search for knowledge must be a global matter,' he continued, 'our world is becoming more and more interconnected. More and more we see the problems arising in different parts of the world. How much better it is then to work together to find the answer.' Citing the latest figures on AIDS, the Commissioner warned there was not much room for optimism as 3 million people died of the disease in 2006, and another 4.3 million people became infected. However, the European Commission is working on ways to reduce the suffering of AIDS victims throughout the world, he said. It is funding research into new therapeutic and preventive strategies for HIV with some €200 million per year, including through the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP). In the closing remarks of his speech, Mr Potocnik said: 'please remember three simple facts: AIDS is a terrible problem for all humanity; science plays a crucial role in the search for hope and solutions, and our world is getting smaller and we are more and more interdependent. Thus working together to find the answers is not only logical, it is also human.'