The tragic shooting down of the Malaysian Flight 17 yesterday will impact AIDS research for future years throughout the world.

A large number of AIDS activists, researchers and health workers were on the plane headed to the International AIDS Conference starting Sunday in Victoria, Australia.

“There has been confirmed that a number of senior people who were coming here were researchers, medical scientists, doctors and people who’ve been to the forefront of dealing with AIDS across the world,” said Victoria Premier Denis Naphine. “The exact number is not yet known, but there is no doubt it’s a substantial number.”

Unconfirmed reports state about 100 people on board were headed to the conference. One of the passengers was the former president of the International AIDS Society, Joep Lange, a world renowned HIV researcher from the Netherlands.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton is scheduled to address the AIDS conference next week.

The plane, flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia was apparently shot down by a surface-to-air missile killing all 298 people on board.

There is an outpouring of grief throughout the world for the victims and their families. We grieve for the tragic victims, including these dedicated AIDS scientists who will no longer be able to perform valuable research combating this horrible disease.