UN hails recipients of Nobel Prize for discovering HIV

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The United Nations has applauded the awarding of the 2008 Nobel Prize for Medicine to two French scientists for their discovery of HIV and for their subsequent pioneering research into the virus.

Fran?oise Barr?-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier are being honoured for uncovering HIV in the early 1980s, “a prerequisite for the current understanding of the biology of the disease and its antiretroviral treatment,” according to the Nobel Assembly.

The most recent report by the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) says that there are now an estimated 33 million people living with HIV worldwide, with 2 million estimated to have died from AIDS last year. Also, AIDS continues to be the leading cause of death in Africa.

“I congratulate Dr. Barr?-Sinoussi and Dr. Montagnier on receiving this prestigious award for it gives recognition to the magnitude of HIV and how the AIDS epidemic has shaped our world since its discovery,” said Peter Piot, UNAIDS Executive Director.

Also lauding the two scientists for the honour was the UN-backed Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

“Many people living with the disease across the world are alive because of the groundbreaking research” conducted by the French researchers, said Global Fund Executive Director Michel Kazatchkine. “Their discovery has changed the face of the disease in rich and poor countries alike.”

The head of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today congratulated Dr. Montagnier, who works closely with the agency through the World Foundation for AIDS Research and Prevention, for the honour.

The World Foundation was set up in 1993 in conjunction with UNESCO. “Since then, the Foundation has made a remarkable contribution to UNESCO’s goals and programmes, especially those involving access to scientific knowledge for the countries most affected by the HIV and AIDS pandemic,” said the agency’s Director General Ko?chiro Matsuura.

The ties between the two organizations were extended in 2006, paving the way for putting in place UNESCO’s “Families First Africa” scheme, which promotes AIDS prevention in C?te d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Cameroon.

Dr. Montagnier’s work was also the focus of a UNESCO film shown on African television stations entitled Le professeur qui lutte contra le Sida.

Sharing the 2008 Nobel Prize for Medicine with the two French scientists is Harald zur Hausen, a German scientist being recognized for discovering human papilloma viruses causing cervical cancer, the second most common cancer among women.

Source: UN News Centre, USA


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