By Hannah Rodger
A LEADING sexual health charity is to start working in international development to help other countries tackle HIV.
HIV Scotland plans to ‘export Scotland’s response’ to the virus by looking internationally from next year.,
It comes amid the rise in cases of HIV in Glasgow since 2015,, which have been described as the worst outbreak of the virus in 30 years.
More than 150 new cases of HIV have been detected in the city in the past four years, with homeless people and drug users thought to be the worst affected.
Health professionals have been working to halt the spread of infection, performing blood tests on the streets and trying to improve access to support services for those who are most isolated.
Scotland currently around 5700 people living with HIV, according to the latest figures, and in September Glasgow became the first city in Scotland to sign up to a pledge to become HIV -free by 2030.
The charity’s chief Nathan Sparling was speaking last night at an event to mark the organisation’s 25th anniversary when he said he would start looking internationally.
He also condemned previous attitudes towards drug users, and said the country’s current drug laws were “a ticking time bomb”.
Sparling said: “The ongoing HIV outbreak in Glasgow, one of the biggest in Western Europe, shows where we can do better, especially within communities that are far too often regarded as hard to reach.
“People who inject drugs are criminalised, stigmatised, and marginalised, and we need to continue to work with our partners across the sector to ensure that they are not swept under the carpet.
“For too long, Scotland’s attitude to drug use has been ‘out of sight, out of mind. Lock them up and throw away the key.’
“Not only is this attitude morally unjustifiable, but it has also led to poorer public health outcomes. Our drug laws are a ticking time bomb, and we are at two minutes to midnight.”
He added: “2020 will be the year that we aim to go beyond Scotland, focussing not only on the people within our borders, but those outwith them as well. Because if we truly want to get to zero, in Scotland and around the world, borders are no barrier.
“Scotland is a small country, but we can and should be playing our part on the international stage. That’s why, next year, we’ll be looking into taking Scotland’s unique HIV response global. Borders are not a contraceptive and they are not a method of prevention.
“HIV doesn’t care about borders, and neither should we.”
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