Mildly exciting photos from AIDS2006

There hasn't been much to report so far (well, besides scientific stuff that would bore you all to tears.) However, you may have seen/read on the news that Bill Gates has pledged more money to fight the AIDS epidemic, and has been a keynote speaker here at the conference. I heard him speak at the opening ceremony, along with his wife Melinda. They are doing some very good things for the AIDS cause.

Richard Gere also spoke at the opening ceremony, albeit briefly. Apparently Alicia Keys gave a speech on Monday but I missed it. Bill Clinton has been here for a couple of days, and today I managed to get to part of a press conference he was giving in the Media Centre. Unfortunately I couldn't take pictures thanks to very large men with very large cameras standing directly in front of me. However, I did manage to snap a couple of very blurry shots as he was leaving the area.

I also took a couple of photos of some of the vandalised pharmaceutical company stands in the exhibition hall. Apparently at the 15th AIDS Conference in Bangkok, activitists and protesters threw blood over some drug company stands. This year wasn't quite so bad, but you get the idea. In case you can't read the small poster, it says "Abbott your booth is empty just like your promises".

I'm working my butt off, feeling quite weary but only 2 more days to go. I have scanned one of the two abstract books (each one is 520 pages) and I'm working on the second. My shoulder has a permanent "dent" in it from carrying my conference bag stuffed with info, and my arms are covered in bruises from being bumped and pushed and shoved in the extremely busy poster hall. Like I said to Rob last night, I'm going to need a holiday when I get home!