HIV/Aids: London mayor commits £130,000 for Aids memorial

The mayor of London has committed £130,000 towards London's first permanent memorial to victims of Aids.

Announcing the funding on World Aids Day, Sadiq Khan said the monument will send a "powerful message of solidarity" to those who live with HIV.

The monument will be placed on Tottenham Court Road near the former Middlesex Hospital by 2026.

The hospital was home to the UK's first dedicated Aids ward, which was opened by Princess Diana in 1987.

The charity behind the project, AIDS Memory UK, has been in talks with the mayor's team to develop the concept.

An artist commissioning process for the memorial is currently under way.

Ash Kotak, the charity's CEO, said the memorial will ask questions of justice, deaths, survival and activism.

Mr Khan said London was "on course" to end new HIV infections by 2030, with 98% of HIV-diagnosed Londoners currently on treatment.

This week the mayor signed City Hall up to a HIV Confident Charter aimed at tackling stigma and discrimination in the workplace.

The charter - which Mr Khan is encouraging other organisations to sign up to - is being accompanied by an ambassadors programme, delivered in partnership with Terrence Higgins Trust.

Richard Angell, the trust's chief executive, said: "This is about putting the stories of people living with HIV at the heart of London's public services and corporate giants.

"Currently, people living with HIV still face unacceptably high levels of stigma, including rejection on dating apps, isolation in their communities and completely unnecessary double gloving in hospitals.

"We won't let this continue on our watch and stigma must be smashed."

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