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AMSTERDAM -- Former President Bill Clinton blasted the "new politics of division that is sweeping the world" for hampering the battle against HIV/AIDS.
The "only real pro-life attitude is to save as many lives as possible," Clinton said, speaking to a packed hall at the 22nd International AIDS Conference here.
In troubled times, Clinton said, "the easiest thing in the world to do ... is to ease off" and reduce the international effort to battle the HIV/AIDS pandemic. But backing off would have "calamitous" consequences, he said.
"There is no Brexit option that does not end badly for real people in the developing world and possibly in the developed world as well," he said, using the nickname for the controversial British decision in 2016 to leave the European Union.
The world has the tools to hold the line against HIV, he said. "We know how to virtually solve a number of the problems," Clinton said, adding that pulling out of the fight for economic or political reasons is not an option.
"This is not about money and jobs," he said. "This is about life and death."
Clinton is well regarded in the international AIDS community: After leaving office in 2001, he started the Clinton Health Access Initiative, which works on health issues in the developing world including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and other diseases.
Nevertheless, in what has become a routine part of this biennial meeting, his speech was interrupted for several minutes by chanting and shouting protesters, upset at laws that marginalize sex workers in many countries, as well as the decision to hold the next AIDS conference in San Francisco in 2020.
Organizers of the meeting build in time for the protesters, who are usually well behaved, but Clinton was visibly miffed when they interrupted him a second time, chanting: "Answer the question."
"I don't know what the question is," he said.
Once back on track, he argued that the international community has made substantial progress against HIV/AIDS, but still has a great deal to do. "Too many people in too many places are so comfortable that they think the battle is over," he said.
He urged delegates to go home and challenge both complacency and "tribalism."
"You guys are in the possibility business," he told delegates, and committed to overcoming obstacles. "There are no permanent victories or defeats in life, but there is permanent attitude which will guarantee triumph and constant trial."
"So suck it up and make something good happen."