Martin Delaney, leading treatment activist and founder of Project Inform, dies at 63

6 February 2009. Related: Other news.

It is with great sadness that we report that Marty Delaney, one of the most outspoken and respected American treatment activists, died on 23 January 2009.

The numerous articles and obituaries linked below hint at the impact from over 20 years work to extend and improve lives of HIV-positive people. He was as concerned with individual empowerment and care as he was changing policy on a national level.

He played a major role in changing the FDA drug approval process: shortening approval time for life-saving drugs and establishing the right for patients to choose to access treatment prior to approval through expanded access programmes.

His experience from the earliest pre-treatment years, first drug trials and later understanding of HAART, through to recent focus on drug costs and pricing, ensured he was one of the most informed and intelligent people working in HIV and he will be greatly missed.