Last weekend, on the eve of World Aids Day, HIV Scotland celebrated its 25th birthday.

It was an incredible evening that served both to look to the past and remember those we have lost, but also look at what we can do better, and where we can improve in the future. 

World Aids Day cannot be seen as just a fundraising opportunity or a day for vague promises, and it’s not just wearing a red ribbon and commemoration for a single day. 

All year round, we need to look at the ways in which we can remember those that we have lost and those who are still affected, commemorating them not only with words but also with action.

I spoke on Saturday night about the 770,000 people who lost their lives to HIV-related causes around the world last year. I made a commitment that 2020 would be the year that we looked beyond our borders and into the possibility of working internationally to help get to zero around the world, as well as here in Scotland.

“Getting to zero” for us means reaching a goal of zero HIV-related deaths, zero HIV-related stigma and zero new HIV transmissions. 

We have made progress, and we will continue to do so here at home, but we cannot rest or see this as a victory until we get to zero around the world. 

That will take serious drive, investment, and support, but we can get there.

Looking closer to home, I picked out one issue that is incredibly important. 

We can’t risk sticking our heads in the sand, if we are to be on our way to zero new HIV transmissions. 

I’m talking about drugs, specifically in Glasgow. 

On Saturday, I talked about our drug laws being a ticking time bomb, and that we were at two minutes to midnight. 

This is because, right now, we have a chance to get to zero new HIV transmissions and change the way that we in Scotland look at drugs forever. 

This opportunity won’t last forever, and if we don’t take it now then we could live to regret it. 

Whether you think the Doomsday Clock is a particularly accurate metaphor or not, the facts remain the same: we have an ongoing crisis in Glasgow – and it’s one of the worst in Western Europe.

We need to revolutionise the way we treat drug use in Scotland; the negative, stigmatising attitudes toward drug use and people who inject drugs are standing in our way, and countering these attitudes and changing the laws that are institutionally engineered to stigmatise and criminalise people who inject drugs is the only workable solution.

For far too long, Scotland’s attitude to drug use has been one that centres on the idea of “out of sight, out of mind”. 

Rather than facing this issue, we have criminalised it. Rather than addressing it, we have pushed it into the shadows. 

Rather than helping those in need, we have marginalised and stigmatised them.
We need to face these hard truths before we can get anywhere. 

We have failed, and continue to fail, whole swathes of people, and until we start addressing this, we will never find adequate solutions. 

To start with, we need to look at decriminalisation of small quantities of drugs for personal use, and we need to couple this with drug consumption rooms. 

These responses aren’t a quick fix – indeed they’re the very tip of the iceberg – but we need to start somewhere. In addition to this, people who use drugs deserve our compassion, but they need our funding too. 

Politicians of all stripes have been proactive when it comes to talking about changes to drug policy, but the actual concrete changes that have been made just haven’t been enough. 

The Scottish Government has stated that it wants to end inequalities in healthcare, but we’ve seen cut after cut to the drug and alcohol budget, which disproportionately affects those who already face societal and institutional marginalisation. 

We have a Westminster Government that speaks on the one hand with veritable outrage on the outbreak in Glasgow, and yet on the other hand it continues to refuse to acknowledge the ever-growing evidence and ever-louder calls for a drug consumption room.

We’ve heard the promises but until we see progress, those words mean next to nothing. 

On Saturday I also said that, in a whole host of areas, change can’t wait. This is one of those areas.

We have the tools to get to zero new HIV transmissions, and politicians from all sides backed our World Aids Day campaign on getting there, but with that promise comes a call to action.

We are at two minutes to midnight and we will stay there until we see those promises become real concrete action. 

Change can’t wait. We know it; politicians know it; the people of Scotland know it. Let’s get to work, and let’s get to zero.

Nathan Sparling is chief executive of HIV Scotland