World AIDS Day 2023
Lorraine Fleming
Sandyford Health Improvement Lead - Sexual Health & HIV Prevention
World AIDS Day 2023 - Tackling HIV Stigma
Friday the 1st of December is World AIDS Day. This is an opportunity to raise awareness and reflect on the significant progress in HIV prevention, detection, treatment and care and continue to work towards the national goal of ending new HIV transmissions by 2030.
New HIV diagnoses in NHS GGC continue to decline year on year, supported by effective HIV prevention such as condoms, injecting equipment provision (IEP), Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP), Pre Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), and the availability and accessibility of HIV testing and treatment. Effective treatment means people diagnosed with HIV can live healthy lives by reducing the levels of HIV in the blood to undetectable levels. This protects the immune system and means HIV cannot be passed on to others. For residents of Greater Glasgow & Clyde, PEP, PrEP, Free Condoms and STI testing services are available from Sandyford.
However recent research in Scotland shows that there is low levels of accurate knowledge about HIV and as result of this, people living with or at risk of HIV continue to experience HIV related stigma. For example almost half (46%) of people in Scotland would be ashamed to tell other people if they were HIV positive and only one third of Scots are aware that people living with HIV on effective treatment cannot pass HIV on to sexual partners.
To continue to support people living with HIV to live long healthy lives and end new HIV transmissions by 2030, it is important to raise awareness of up-to-date and accurate information about HIV while continuing to tackle HIV stigma, assumptions and misperceptions.
This World AIDS Day, please take a look at the HIV Stigma Campaign website and share its resources far and wide to help combat stigma and increase awareness of the facts of HIV: HIV stigma campaign website.
Feel free also to share our HIV fact assets below on your own channels.
