President Clinton delivers 'energizing call to action' at AIDS 2012 closing session

"Former President Bill Clinton delivered an energizing 'call to action' at the closing session of [the XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012)], encapsulating the high hopes and the sobering challenges facing the fight against global HIV/AIDS," Janet Fleischman, a senior associate at the Center for Strategic & International Studies' (CSIS) Global Health Policy Center, writes in the center's "Smart Global Health" blog. "In order to build the necessary political momentum going forward, he focused on certain key areas: supporting greater commitments from affected countries, driving down the costs of treatment, and creating innovative financing mechanisms to accompany traditional donor funding," she notes, and highlights key messages from his Closing Session address (7/31). A webcast of the session is available online from the Kaiser Family Foundation.