Glasgow City Council has reaffirmed its commitment to eradicate HIV and the stigma that surrounds it by signing up to meet the new 95-95-95 targets.
The 95-95-95 vision was introduced in December 2020 by UNAIDS who released a new set of ambitious targets calling for 95% of all people living with HIV to know their HIV status, 95% of all people with diagnosed HIV infection to receive sustained antiretroviral therapy, and 95% of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy to have viral suppression by 2025.
During a recent city administration committee, the local authority also recommitted to the Fast Track City initiative which sees the local authority hard at work towards ending new transmissions of HIV by 2030 as well as the stigma that surrounds it.
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Glasgow was the first city in Scotland to sign up to the programme in 2018 and was followed by Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee.
Speaking at the meeting, councillor Chris Cunningham said: “Glasgow first signed up to the Fast Track Cities in 2018 but progress was interrupted by the pandemic. We are now looking at new targets.
“Glasgow was the first Scottish city to sign up to the initiative but since then Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee have made the commitment.
“Third sector organisations are also committed to it and the Scottish Government plans to build a national strategy for the elimination of HIV by 2030.”
The Fast-Track Cities initiative is a global partnership between cities and local governments around the world with four core partners.
They are the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), and the City of Paris.
The Paris declaration, first issued in 2014 and updated in 2021, agrees to end the HIV epidemic by 2030 by putting people first, addressing the cause of transmission and uniting as leaders.
Councillor Cunningham continued: “The Fast Tack City initiative provides an opportunity for the city to commit to ending new transmissions of HIV and HIV related stigma which is seen as the key barrier to testing and case finding.
“By having a fast track cities implementation group, which aligns with the health board, sexual health and bloodborne virus oversight group, we will ensure coherence at specific local level actions.
“The city’s participation in the initiative would be seen as a positive sign of its commitment to the control of HIV. The proposed consortium of four Scottish cities would generate opportunities for coordinated action and sharing of experience between those cities and their health boards.
“On the down side, non engagement may have reputational consequences for both the city and the health board.”
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