Attitudes in Scotland towards HIV are stuck in the 80s, when the virus was first identified.
Terrence Higgins was one of the first people in the UK to die of an AIDS-related illness on July 4, 1982.
On the anniversary of his death, a charity named after him has revealed results of a poll that show how Scots’ perceptions have remained largely unchanged.
The survey found 38 per cent of Scots would feel uncomfortable going on a date with someone who is HIV positive, 41 per cent would feel uneasy kissing someone with HIV and 66 per cent would feel anxious having sex with someone living with HIV who is on effective treatment.
The findings come despite huge medical progress in the fight against HIV.
People living with the virus who are on effective treatment are no longer able to pass it on – even if they don’t use a condom.
However, the survey by the Terrence Higgins Trust shows just 21 per cent of people in Scotland are aware of this “stigma-busting” fact.
In the UK, 97 per cent of those diagnosed with HIV and on treatment are virally suppressed, which means levels of the virus in their blood are so low that they can’t pass on HIV.
The charity’s medical director Dr Michael Brady said: “In just a couple of decades, effective treatment means an HIV diagnosis has gone from a virtual death sentence to where we are now saying with confidence – and without doubt – that people living with HIV who are on effective treatment cannot pass the virus on to their sexual partners.
“Had this treatment been available when Terry was diagnosed, he would have been alive and living a healthy life today.”
The charity’s Can’t Pass It On campaign aims to tackle out-of-date beliefs about how HIV is passed on in an effort to end the stigma and discrimination faced by people living with the virus.
●For more information about the campaign, go to tht.org.uk/cantpassiton or follow the #CantPassItOn hashtag on social media.
