M
ark Lazarowicz, MP for Edinburgh North & Leith, took part in a discussion yesterday on policy both in Scotland and internationally on HIV/AIDS and measures to combat discrimination.
The meeting entitled ‘Scotland is positive’ at St John’s Church in Princes Street was organised by Waverley Care, a pioneering organisation that offers care and support to people affected by HIV/AIDS. Canon Gideon Byamugisha, an Anglican priest from Uganda, was also there to speak about his experience of living with HIV.
Mark Lazarowicz said:- ”About 5 years ago I attended an event in this same church at which the names of those in Edinburgh who had died of AIDS were read out – and I recognised some of the names of constituents I had known in Wester Hailes some 20-25 years earlier, which was a sombre reminder of the continuing toll from AIDS.
Now as an Opposition Spokesman on International Development I see the devastating way that HIV/AIDS continues to affect developing countries and I am all the more determined that the UK should continue to provide a strong lead so that the progress made in the last decade is maintained and the continuing challenges that we face are met.”
The work carried out by Waverley Care is considered by the charity to be important in raising public awareness of HIV/AIDS, and encouraging public support and funding necessary to respond to the continuing challenge.
