Lisa Singh

Thank you Vice Chancellor Professor Ian Jacobs for inviting me to UNSW to be part of this significant event to pay tribute to a remarkable man, Professor David Cooper. 

Can I acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land we meet on and pay my respects to our First Nations people. Can I also acknowledge the Hon Michael Kirby AC, and all distinguished guests.  Can I pass my condolences to David’s family who are here today, his wife Dorrie and his daughters Beck & Ilana.

I also acknowledge and thank all the staff and students at the Kirby Institute for your ongoing dedication to David Cooper’s mission of saving lives, as well as all the participants at this David Cooper Symposium today - which I’m sure will be enriching for all.

David’s Symposium has certainly already been enriched by the news over the weekend of his posthumous award of the Companion in the General Division of the Order of Australia (AC) for his service to medicine in the area of HIV/AIDS research. At a time when Australia has been faced with such sadness at the loss of this finest of clinicians, we all stand today to reflect on just how profound his impact has been on the lives of so many both here and overseas and to importantly continue his work. This follows the beautiful and moving memorial held yesterday at the Sydney Town Hall.

When I first met Professor David Cooper, whilst I was visiting the Kirby Institute’s cutting-edge laboratories, he shared with me in great detail the innovative work he and his passionate team were conducting in the pursuit of ending HIV, Hepatitis C and other infections. I learnt how, under his leadership, the Kirby Institute had developed from a national response centre with a handful of staff in the 1980s into a globally respected research institute today - employing more than 300 researchers working on the latest ground-breaking research.

His dedication to saving lives all over the world through the prevention, treatment and cure of HIV and other infectious diseases, stemmed from the principle that health is a fundamental human right and no one would be turned away from the best options available for treatment and prevention, regardless of their social or personal circumstances.

David turned Australia into a global leader in the fight against HIV-AIDS. He contributed to the development of every therapeutic drug used in HIV.

He was one of the first Australian doctors to respond to the HIV epidemic when it hit Australia in the 1980s, and the research he published in The Lancet during that decade led to the first description anywhere in the world of the so-called "seroconversion illness," the first marker of HIV infection in many people.

And that was just the beginning of a lifelong pursuit to save countless lives across the globe, having seen the evolution of HIV, then the global health catastrophe and then playing such an exceptional pivotal role in medical research to bringing the disease under control.

The theme of today’s symposium is “treatment and prevention access for all”. This cuts to the heart of Australia’s role in tackling HIV and infectious diseases across our region.

In my role as Deputy Chair of the Parliamentary Liaison Group for HIV/AIDS, Blood-Borne Viruses and Sexually-Transmitted Diseases, and along with my Chair Senator Dean Smith, I work with federal politicians from all parties to raise awareness and understanding within Federal Parliament of issues relating to HIV/AIDS and diseases, and to promote the human rights and prevent stigma and discrimination against those living with hepatitis and HIV.

David Cooper led the clinical trial of pre-exposure prophylaxis to eliminate HIV transmission right here in NSW. And now in Australia we have just taken a major step forward by having Prep listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. However, we know the international challenges in the region are much more significant.

There are still an estimated 4.8 million people living with HIV/AIDS across the Asia Pacific, and it’s estimated that just a third of those people have access to treatment.

Tackling HIV isn’t just a medical problem that can be solved with the right drug. It is also a political challenge that requires the work of politicians, bureaucrats, diplomats, and governments working together across the world.

The scientific and political influence that David Cooper had was always used to best advantage patients and to ensure that treatment was to be available to all.

It is with that same goal in mind that I believe we should continue our roles to influence those at home and in the region to work together in the hope of eliminating HIV once and for all.

Today we will hear from some amazing guests both from Australia and around the world. I especially want to thank the International speakers for travelling down here:

Professor Linda-Gail Bekker from South Africa, Deputy Director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre and President of the International AIDS Society. Professor Emeritus Praphan Phanuphak from Thailand is an internist, allergist and clinical immunologist as well as Professor of Medicine at Chulalongkorn University and director of the Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Centre and Director of the HIV Netherlands Australia Thailand Research Collaboration.  Professor Brian Gazzard from the UK, clinical Research Director at Westminster Hospital and Professor of HIV Medicine at Imperial College London.

And Dr H Clifford Lane from the USA serves as the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases among many titles, and recently worked on the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

As well as our fabulous Australian speakers.

It is great to have so many experts from Australia and across the globe here, not just in honour of Professor David Cooper and his work, but determined to push it forward.

Indeed, David’s ground breaking, collaborative disease research lives on with so many of you in the room here today.

I now declare the David Cooper Symposium “Treatment and Prevention: Access for All” open.

ENDS

MEDIA CONTACT: KYLIE FARRELL 03 6223 1135

Authorised by Noah Carroll ALP Canberra