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The 17th International AIDS Conference is set to conclude today in Mexico City. The week-long gathering of scientists, government officials, and representatives from international agencies, focused on a discussion of the global AIDS crisis including treatment and prevention policies. The AIDS virus currently infects more than 33 million people worldwide and has already claimed 25 million lives. Even though more than 20,000 attended the international conference, many stayed home in protest. In an International Herald Tribune opinion piece, Laurie Garrett warned that the AIDS establishment is becoming too entrenched in a burgeoning treatment industry while calls for a cure have subsided. On the issue of treatment, protesters took to the streets of Mexico City on Sunday by the hundreds to demand greater access to anti-retroviral medication which is currently too expensive. A day before the International AIDS Conference began the US Center for Disease Control released a new study noting that new HIV infections in the United States were 40% higher than previously reported. African-Americans were found to comprise nearly half of all new infections despite being only 13% of the total population. Congresswoman Barbara Lee of Oakland attended the conference and called for a national strategy to deal with the reality of AIDS in the US.

GUESTS: Julie Davids, Executive Director, Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project (CHAMP) Chris Collins of the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC)

For more information, visit, www.champnetwork.org, aidstreatmentaccess.org, and aids2008.org