Statement from BC-CfE Director Dr. Julio Montaner on Establishment of the Joep Lange Institute

posted on July 20, 2015

Vancouver, BC [July 18, 2015] This July, a year after the MH17 disaster, the establishment of the Joep Lange Institute and the Joep Lange Chair and Fellows program was announced. These initiatives will carry forward Joep’s legacy. The Institute will continue in Joep’s lifelong mission to improve access to quality health care to those who need it most.

Joep Lange, a prominent doctor and scientist, and his partner and colleague Jacqueline van Tongeren died one year ago in the MH17 tragedy. They were en route to the international AIDS conference in Melbourne. The announcement of the new Institute came just a few days before the start of the 2015 International AIDS Society Conference in Vancouver, July 19-22.

Dr. Lange founded the PharmAccess Foundation to make health care accessible to everyone in Africa through innovative financing mechanisms. Today, PharmAccess continues to mobilize public and private resources for the benefit of doctors and patients through health insurance, loans to doctors, clinical standards and quality improvements, private investments and operational research.

Dr. Montaner, Director of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS said: “As we look ahead to reaching the ambitious target of 90-90-90 to end AIDS by 2030, my late friend and colleague Joep Lange’s uncompromising and courageous work continues to inspire. He accomplished what some said was impossible: making HIV treatment affordable and accessible in the most hard-to-reach places. Joep set a strong example for scientists and leaders, and I am bolstered by knowing his legacy will continue at the newly established Joep Lange Institute. The Institute will not only make strides towards health care delivery with research and innovation, but also through action – continuing the lifesaving direct outreach begun under Joep’s PharmAcess Foundation.”

For additional information or to request interviews, please contact:
Caroline Dobuzinskis, BC-CfE
Phone: 604-682-2344 ext. 66536, Email: cdobuzin@cfenet.ubc.ca

BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS

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Statement from BC-CfE Director Dr. Julio Montaner on Establishment of the Joep Lange Institute

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