Glasgow's pledge to tackle HIV crisis

Glasgow's reaffirming its commitment to ending the HIV crisis in the city by 2030.

Glasgow City Council and partners have signed a pledge to stop new cases occurring in the next decade, following the UK's worst outbreak in 30 years.

At least 160 people - mostly drug users and homeless people - have been infected in the last two years.

Charities and organisations have been meeting over the last week as part of the Fast Track Cities Initiative Leadership Group.

The group will also work towards eliminating HIV-related stigma and discrimination, ending all preventable deaths from HIV-related causes as well as improving the health, quality of life and wellbeing of people living with HIV across the city. I

t will also aim to sustain and exceed the UNAIDS’s 90:90:90 HIV targets (90 per cent of people living with HIV knowing their status, 90 per cent of people with diagnosed HIV on treatment, 90 per cent of people on treatment with suppressed viral loads).

Cllr Mhairi Hunter, said: “I was delighted to chair today’s meeting to take forward this vital work for Glasgow. The Fast-Track Cities initiative allows us to pull together all the relevant partner organisations, and work to co-ordinate existing strategies and policies to make a real difference to the lives of those affected by HIV in Glasgow.

"At today’s meeting we all agreed to continue this work to develop the city’s Strategic Plan which will help us on our way to meet the targets we have signed up to.”

Susanne Millar, Interim Chief Officer, the Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership, said: “I’m delighted that the Partnership and the Council is working with others across the city to take forward this important work following the Council signing the Paris declaration in 2018. Fast-Track Cities allows us the ability to work with cities around the world to learn and develop our services and strategies to best meet the needs of the people of Glasgow.

"Obviously this work has been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but today’s meeting – the first since the pandemic started – has allowed all the partners involved to recommit ourselves to this work. There is a lot of learning from the innovative responses we’ve seen throughout COVID-19 that we can take as we develop our Plan.”

Nathan Sparling, Chief Executive of HIV Scotland, said: “Glasgow is part of a global network of over 300 cities committed to ending the HIV epidemic by 2030, and it was great to reinvigorate our work to reach zero HIV transmission, zero HIV-related deaths and zero HIV-stigma in Glasgow.

"Everyone in Glasgow can play their part by learning about the modern day realities of HIV and help us stamp out stigma and prejudice. Today, someone living with HIV can live a long, healthy and happy life with effective medication that can work so well that people can’t pass the virus on to their sexual partners.”

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