Global AIDS conference kicks off in Australia

SYDNEY (AP) - The world should stop waiting for a cure for AIDS and focus instead on exciting new developments in treatment and prevention, according to a top researcher who will address a major international HIV conference in Sydney this week.

"This is a hugely exciting time in the world of AIDS research," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

"We've got incredibly potent treatments on the horizon, possible vaccines in the pipeline and new options for using these things in ways we haven't before. But as for a cure, let's just stop talking about it," added Fauci, who was speaking last week.

Fauci, who is one of the keynote speakers at the Fourth International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment, said the virus' ability to integrate itself into the genetic makeup of human cells meant the disease was almost impossible to eliminate.