The 16th International AIDS Conference has closed in Toronto with participants calling on the international community to scale up HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment programs.
More than 26,000 doctors, policy-makers, people living with HIV/AIDS, community workers and other caregivers from more than 170 countries attended the conference.
AIDS prevention and the development of medicine were major topics on the agenda, and the findings of several thousand research projects were unveiled over the course of the six-day event.
But Conference Co-Chair Mark Wainberg said the success of the conference could not be measured in terms of medical progress alone.
Rather, the conference aimed for everyone to recognize the real sense contained in its theme, "Time To Deliver".
 "Clearly progress cannot be achieved if more people continue to become infected by HIV each year than to numbers that are able to access treatment. In this context, we also recognize the problem that is sadly posed by HIV."
Participants called on the governments of the world to work harder to halt the spread of AIDS, as medical developments alone will not be able to stem the epidemic.
The International AIDS Society and the AIDS 2006 Toronto Local Host organized the biennial event this year.
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Director: Liu Chi