The 'villification' of gay people in the HIV and AIDS crisis must never happen again, a Manchester councillor has said - as more monkeypox cases are found among gay and bisexual men, although none have been in the north west. Labour councillor Pat Karney urged the town hall to challenge disinformation about the disease, which has seen 71 cases identified across the country so far.
He raised concerns that the narrative about gay people perpetuated during the HIV and AIDS pandemic will be repeated as news of monkeypox emerges. Manchester's health scrutiny committee was told the virus was 'endemic' in parts of Western Central Africa, but is now spreading to other countries.
There have been no cases of monkeypox in the north west to date, but data suggests gay and bisexual have been particularly affected by the spread so far.
