Surprise Guest Speaker

The unannounced visitor who kicked off this microbicides conference was none other than Archbishop Desmond Tutu. As it happened, one of my colleagues had ushered me to the third row of our 2000 seat auditorium, and so I sat about 8 feet from the great man.

On an evening with many great speeches, music, dance, storytelling, and videos, Bishop Tutu was the highlight. He talked about a number of firsts that have happened in Cape Town (first open heart surgery, the place where he announced the release of Nelson Mandela, etc.), and how it would be wonderful to have a breakthrough in this dread disease announced here.

He then said something very powerful. He said that when God looks at Iraq, at Darfur, and at the HIV pandemic, he weeps. God must be thinking, Tutu said, that what has he done, putting these people on the world. But then God sees all of the people who are working so diligently to solve this problem, and he clears his tears away and smiles.

Of course the Bishop was talking about the hundreds and thousands of researchers who are working so diligently to find a prevention and cure for HIV, and it was nice to see people whose work is often so anonymous get recognized by such an eminent personage.

Bishop Tutu also, very wisely, had a behavioral message, which was that a good deal of this problem is caused by the unequal economic and social relationship between men and women. More on that tomorrow. It was a wonderful way to start the conference.