More than 18,000 scientists, campaigners and donors opened a major Aids conference in South Africa yesterday, issuing stark warnings that recent gains in the fight against the disease were under threat.
The five-day International Aids Conference returns to Africa 16 years after Nelson Mandela galvanised the world to take up the fight against Aids, describing it as “one of the greatest threats humankind has faced”.
Again hosted by the coastal city of Durban, the conference is seen as the key gathering of experts tackling a pandemic that has claimed more than 30mn lives in 35 years.
Among those attending the 21st biennial conference are UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, activists including singer Elton John and actress Charlize Theron, and Britain’s Prince Harry.
Michel Sidibe, executive director of UNAIDS, made an impassioned plea for more resources, saying that the UN’ target of ending the Aids pandemic by 2030 could slip away. 
“I’m scared because I am seeing for the first time the decline in the financing from donor countries,” he said.
“If we stop now, we will certainly regret (it) because we will see a resurgence in this epidemic.”
Antiretroviral drugs have allowed many sufferers to survive, but there are some 36.7mn people worldwide living with HIV/Aids, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa.
Of these, only 17mn are receiving treatment.
“This conference comes at another crucial time in the HIV epidemic,” said Chris Beyrer, president of the International Aids Society.
“If we don’t make the right strategic choices, we risk reversing hard-won gains. Delay is tantamount to defeat.”
With no cure for the virus in sight, patients still face lifelong reliance on the expensive drugs which cause side effects.
Delegates will discuss the latest scientific research amid frustration that there is still no vaccine for the stealthy virus.