The Norman Fowler HIV Fund

Do you remember the Don’t Die of Ignorance public health campaign of the 1980s?

For many, the television advert featuring a huge tombstone and John Hurt’s distinctive voice is still vivid. It was 40 seconds that changed the public conversation, urging households across the UK to learn vital facts about HIV and AIDS at a time of rising fear and loss. A leaflet was sent to every home in the UK. But even before the advert was broadcast, anxiety and confusion were widespread. People feared a new and deadly illness.

At the centre of the response was Lord Fowler, then Health Secretary, in Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet. Faced with hospital wards full of young men dying, he understood that saving lives mattered more than avoiding controversy. His approach was subsequently vindicated when, by 1987, a Gallup Poll showed that 98% of the public now understood how HIV was transmitted and infection rates began to fall. Countless lives were saved.

Yet the shadow of that tombstone remains.

Despite remarkable medical progress, including treatment that suppresses HIV to levels where it cannot be passed on, public attitudes have not kept up. Around 50% of British people say they would not feel comfortable kissing someone with HIV and stigma is still one of the greatest barriers to testing and treatment. Stigma discourages people from coming forward for testing and ultimately getting treatment. Every year, that leads to avoidable deaths.

Stigma kills. But it does not have to. Join us. 

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Together with Lord Fowler, Terrence Higgins Trust is launching The Norman Fowler HIV Fund, a dedicated initiative focused on tackling stigma wherever it exists:

• within institutions and systems
• within most affected communities and the public
• with people living with HIV.

This fund aims to replace outdated beliefs, fear and misinformation with facts, compassion and hope.

Your donation will:

• support campaigns that challenge stigma and transform public understanding
• break down myths that prevent people from seeking testing and treatment
• help ensure that no one dies because they were afraid to be tested
• honour Lord Fowler’s leadership and lifelong commitment to tackling HIV stigma.