IT is probably the most famous public health campaign of the past 40 years, but HIV campaigners say the infamous AIDS tombstone has left a lasting legacy of fear and confusion around the virus.
"We all remember the imagery around the tombstone," said Stephen Duffy, who has campaigned for decades to improve the welfare of people living with HIV.
"It was incredibly effective because it put the fear of God into people, but what it did for a generation of gay men was for them to associate sex with illness and death. That's an awful thing to do to people."
The 'Don't Die of Ignorance' campaign, launched by the Department of Health and Social Security in 1987, is best remembered for its ominous 40 second television advert.
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Now, ahead of World AIDS Day on December 1, HIV Scotland is launching a £100,000 fundraising initiative to pay for the first television campaign in 33 years - this time with the goal of challenging lingering stigma and misconceptions, and conveying the reality of HIV today.
Medical advances mean that very few people in the UK fall ill or die as a direct result of HIV now, and with the right care and treatment people who are HIV positive have normal life expectancy.
It comes as a poll by the charity found that 46 per cent per cent of Scots wrongly believe HIV can be transmitted through biting, spitting, or kissing, and only 9% strongly agreed that they would be comfortable kissing someone who is HIV positive.
Additionally, only 19% of respondents knew that people whose HIV has been lowered to undetectable levels as a result of modern drug treatments cannot pass the infection on through sex.
Nathan Sparling, chief executive of HIV Scotland, said: “It is clear through the polling data which we’re publishing today that many myths still exist.
"There is a need for a national, coordinated public awareness campaign, including TV advertising, to end stigma. There has not been a TV ad since the ‘Don’t Die of Ignorance’ ads famed for its tombstone imagery – which undoubtedly has lingered in people’s minds, perpetuating the stigma of the 80s.
“Ending stigma will help us ensure that people can access services and receive the treatment and care they need to live well."
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The TV drive is the latest plank in the charity's Generation Zero campaign, which aims to eliminate new HIV transmissions and end HIV-related stigma by 2030 by "reframing the conversation" in schools, workplaces and wider society.
It is backed by celebrities Alan Cumming and Lorraine Kelly, alongside civil society leaders, politicians and people living with HIV.
Mr Duffy, from Glasgow, discovered he was HIV positive in 2012 and continues to volunteer helping others to access benefits following diagnosis.
The 49-year-old jazz vocalist and classical music writer, said: "These are often people who have been thrown out of their family home simply because of their diagnosis, who have been ostracised by their friends and neighbours because there is a fear that HIV will magically jump through the ether or be transferred by toothbrush, or cup or mug.
"They can no more catch it that way than they can jump in the Channel and swim to Normandy. It's simply not going to happen.
"There are people who keep their children away from their fathers because they're scared that if they cuddle them they'll get HIV. Absolute nonsense. There's only two ways that HIV can be transferred: by blood or unprotected sex, that's it.
"Once most people have been on treatment a few weeks, very quickly the amount of virus in their bloodstream becomes so small that it cannot be detected by an HIV test. That also means that that person cannot pass the virus on."
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Mr Duffy added: "We're living in a time when HIV can be all but cured. I am not going to die of HIV, I'm going to live - hopefully - to a ripe old age.
"I have one friend who has been positive now for 35 years. He had full-blown AIDS twice, and has been pulled back from that twice.
"Now he has an undetectable viral load. He cannot pass it on. He's now in his 60s.
"But the stigma goes on."
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