Expert opinion

	03.12.06 Victoria Panova G8 research group, University of Toronto, Director for Russia
	03.12.06 Mona Bricke German NGO Forum Environment and Development
	03.12.06 Nigel Martin Montreal International Rorum (FIM)
	02.12.06 John Kirton Head of G8 Research Group, University of Toronto
	02.12.06 Regina Gunter Head of the WWF Germany

News

1st Conference on AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia opening in Moscow

The first conference on the issues of HIV/AIDS in countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia is opening in the Russian capital on Monday. The conference’s organising committee told Itar-Tass that 1,500 representatives from 47 countries will take part in it.

“For the first time doctors, scientists together with representatives of non-governmental organisations will work out the strategy of actions in fighting the virus in these regions,” the organising committee stressed. Russian Minister of Health and Social Development Mikhail Zurabov and head of the Rospotrebnadzor Federal Service for the Protection of Consumer Rights and Human Welfare Gennady Onishchenko are expected to take the floor at the conference opening.

The organisers regard the Moscow conference as a preparatory stage of the forthcoming G8 summit in St. Petersburg during which the Group of Eight leaders will discuss, in particular, problems related to infectious diseases.

According to data of the World Health Organisation (WHO), a total of 335,000 HIV-infected people have been registered in Russia and there are over 1.5 million diseased with AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Expert opinion

	02.12.06 Halter Marek Le College de France
	02.12.06 Olivier Giscard d’Estaing COPAM, France
	02.12.06 Mika Ohbayashi Institute for Sustainable Energy Poliсy
	02.12.06 Bill Pace World Federalist Movement - Institute for Global Policy
	01.12.06 Peter I. Hajnal Toronto University, G8 Research Group