It is 20 years since Freddie Mercury died from Aids and 30 years since the disease was first discovered.
His bandmate Brian May, who works with the Mercury Phoenix Trust, spoke to STV News about what has changed and what still needs to be done to tackle the issue.
Charities say there is still a stigma around the disease and a feeling that it is not a problem in the UK anymore. But with 4500 HIV positive Scots, the disease is something which needs to be addressed.
May said it had been hard for the Queen singer to admit what he was dying from, but that there was still a stigma surrounding HIV and Aids today.
He said: “It was quite brave of Freddie when he was slipping away. It had been very difficult for him to even announce what he was suffering from but he said ‘I don’t want people to think I died of something else’.
“I suppose there’s an incredible fear of the unknown. In the gay community it was absolutely horrific - you had this terrible stigma.
“You had people saying this is what the gay community deserves, the most horrific things were being said, almost like this is the scourge that was sent to punish people. This is sort of ignorance that was the climate at the time.
“It’s amazing but stigma still does exist, all of us should know better. It’s down to awareness and understanding and doing away with the ignorance.”
The Mercury Phoenix Trust was set up by Mercury’s bandmates after his death in 1991. Since then is has raised more than £10m and given grants to over 750 charities worldwide.
The trust works in raising awareness around the world, from the UK to African nations where ignorance about the disease is rife..
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