HIV-NAT Bangkok loses co-founder Joep Lange
The Netherlands and the world are in deep mourning for the many people who died in the Malaysia Airlines plane that was shot down over Ukraine. Nearly 200 victims came from the Netherlands and in many circles these people are mourned.
Let me first of all state that one victim is not more important than another, whatever his/her background, social position, origin or nationality may have been. However, I would like to mention one of the victims in particular, the Dutch Professor of Medicine Joep Lange, who has been so incredibly important to Thailand for HIV research and treatment. He was with his life partner Jacqueline van Tongeren and many dozens of other passengers on their way to Melbourne for the 20th International AIDS Conference, starting July 20.
Dr. Joep Lange is co-founder of the Netherlands Australia Thailand Research Collaboration (HIV-NAT). It is a collaboration of the Thai Red Cross Aids Research Center in Bangkok, the Kirby Institute (formerly National Center in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research) in Sydney and the Institute for Global Health and Development, affiliated with the University of Amsterdam.
The HIV-NAT center in Bangkok has been conducting clinical research in HIV since 1996, specifically on the problem of HIV and AIDS in Thailand. For more information about HIV-NAT I recommend their website: www.hivnat.org/en
David Cooper, director of the Kirby Institute, a friend and colleague of professor Joep Lange, talks about their collaboration and the scientific legacy of this Dutch pioneer in HIV research in an extensive account on the website of The Conversation. Below is an abbreviated translation:
"Large international meetings, such as AIDS2014, are the ideal locations for colleagues and employees to come together and exchange ideas. During the early 1990s I often met two old friends and colleagues, Professor Joep Lange, my counterpart at the National AIDS Therapy Evaluation Center (NATEC) in Amsterdam and Professor Praphan Phanuphak, head of the Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Center (TRC-ARC) in Bangkok.
At the time, it was a major problem to convince the pharmaceutical companies and other HIV-related clinical researchers that HIV was prevalent in low-income countries that lacked the resources to pay for expensive treatments.
In November 1995 the three of us agreed on the need for a clinical trials center in Thailand and the Netherlands-Australia-Thailand Research Collaboration, known as HIV-NAT, was born, quickly becoming a model for HIV clinical research in developing countries.
HIV-NAT's first study with 75 participants was initiated in September 1996. It was a study of the feasibility of reducing the dose of two major antiretroviral therapies in combination, due to the lower average body weight of Thais. This groundbreaking study led to the idea of optimizing treatment and reducing the cost of antiretroviral drugs.
Joep and I then lobbied the pharmaceutical industry while Praphan secured the support of the Thai Ministry of Health, enabling experienced clinical trial physicians and biostatisticians from the Netherlands and Australia to train Thai healthcare workers in all aspects of clinical research.
The group's first two studies at Chulalongkorn Hospital in Bangkok helped establish a future teaching model for sites across Thailand and the region. These two studies were critical to the future success of HIV-NAT, which has become a powerhouse of internationally recognized HIV research.
I am privileged to have been Joep's colleague for over two decades. His contribution to HIV research and treatment and his determination to ensure access to these treatments for people in Africa and Asia cannot be underestimated. Joep was a special person, a brave researcher, a valuable employee, a good friend and colleague.”
For the full story of Dr. Cooper please go to: theconversation.com/joep-lange-a-brave-HIV-researcher-a-great-friend-and-colleague-29405
Gringo, you've put a face to one of the victims, and then the numbers will become clear in their entirety. Joep is 1 in those large numbers of victims, the loss of Joep Lange emphasizes once again the great loss and suffering that has been caused individually and en masse by this committed crime. The large number of victims slowly but surely gets an individual face, then you really realize what a catastrophe this is for so many.
RIP Joep and all those others, I wish strength to all family, fathers, mothers, children, grandchildren, friends, colleagues, acquaintances.
Nico B
Indeed, Joep Lange has helped to ensure that Thailand has also been spared a further escalation of the HIV disaster in recent decades. This through his combination of science, activism and effective lobbying. On behalf of the AidsCare Foundation, we underline the importance of this thinker and doer. That he, who saved so many lives, has been snatched away by an unexpected and invisible enemy is bittersweet. Our respect will always remain.
I want to share this with the readers on Thailandblog in connection with my earlier reaction, I wrote this email to my daughter in the Netherlands, it is illustrative of the immense suffering of the relatives:
“What a disaster with the Malaysia Airways plane, very sad, a tragedy, so many people, shooting down a passenger plane, how crazy can you be?
The Netherlands is upside down I think and is mourning, so many relatives, mothers, fathers, children, grandchildren, friends, colleagues and acquaintances, who lost their loved ones instantly, everyone also lives with this, as far as we know there were no Thai people in this unit.
Been on this route myself with Malaysia, it could have happened to anyone.
How is it around you, also people close by in mourning?
Love, Daddy”
The reaction of my daughter in the Netherlands:
“Yes, it's awful. In Hilversum, three families are completely gone. It comes very close to us, our three neighbor girls and their mother were on the plane…
We stayed with our neighbor until deep into the night on Thursday. Fortunately, he has many friends and family who support him now. The blow will only come when "normal" life starts again and his kids no longer go to school. He is a super sweet guy and was very involved with his children, he is now left so incredibly alone…
We are also very upset, all around us and also with us, the flag is half mast...
Too sad for words… As if we ended up in a very bad movie.
Love".
This ties in with what Gringo also shows, the immense suffering, great loss and consequences that have been caused.
Nico B
Indeed Gringo, one victim should not mean more than the other, when it comes to condolences, to those left behind with the loss of their loved ones. Beautiful piece.
Apart from a large number of Dutch passengers, all those other passengers and crew were also victims of a terrorist act. those families mourn equally.
As for Joep Lange, I was quite familiar. Together with Peter Piot, director of UN AIDS at the time, and with a wonderful team, they have done a lot of work in the field of AIDS and HIV. And brought about enormous progress in Southeast Asia. First, acknowledging the problem. Which was very difficult in Thailand. Then delivered preventive, diagnostic and treatment-focused insights and effective programs. Wonderful lobbying work, also in a very conservative political environment.
It's ironic, if it can be said that way, and with permission. That a life saver should perish in these circumstances, precisely in such a trivial conflict zone. Now that the man was an altruist, he devoted his life to science. And if it's any consolation. Gave his life not with a sword in his hand, but in the knowledge that at that conference he would try to save even more lives. That's why I personally find it all the more poignant.
And think so for every passenger on that flight, after all, this shouldn't have happened.
There is nothing more tragic than losing a beloved family member, friend, son, daughter, … through a mere act of terrorism.
So far, this reaction to an event that has 'touched' many.
Thanks for your contribution.