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Per our mission, for its first
10 years Positively Aware has been provided free of cost to
any HIV positive individual and distributed through community-based
AIDS service organizations, regardless of their ability to
pay.
The national distribution
of Positively Aware, beginning in 1991, was made possible
through a very generous five-year grant from GlaxoSmithKline
(formerly Burroughs-Wellcome). In the ensuing years, the production
and distribution of Positively Aware was supported primarily
through bulk distribution (community organizations who supply
the journal free of charge to their members and clients) and
from the advertisements of HIV medicines by pharmaceutical
companies.
While AIDS-related deaths
have declined in the last five years, the incidence of reported
new HIV infections have exploded among African American and
Latino men who have sex with men, heterosexual women and incarcerated
men; occurrences of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and
new HIV infections have sharply increased in the gay ghettos,
‘hoods and barrios of San Francisco, New York City, Chicago,
Los Angeles, Miami and Washington, D.C.
The influx of new clients
and the demand for multi-faceted services continues to outpace
the capability of many service providers. An increasing number
of community-based agencies are dealing with more HIV positive
clients, fewer staff and slow government response to funding
requests.
The pharmaceutical industry
faces external pressure from AIDS activists and treatment
educators to discontinue direct consumer advertising (the
same type of ads that support Positively Aware and other HIV
publications) and increase supplies of free or reduced cost
antivirals domestically and internationally.
In the past year old-school,
trickle down Reaganomics has taken a hold of Positively Aware.
On the demand end, subscriptions for Positively Aware from
HIV positive individuals, their caregivers and community organizations
continue to increase. On the supply end, advertising revenue
for the journal declined substantially over the last year.
And on the cost end, printing and distribution expenses associated
with production of Positively Aware continue to increase.
Positively Aware and now
Positively Aware en Español are created, edited and distributed
by a staff of three—Jeff Berry, Enid Vázquez, and myself.
It is only through grassroots efforts, dedicated volunteers
and the strong cooperation of our agency’s entire staff (just
15 in total) that Enid, Jeff and I are able to produce these
two journals. We rely heavily upon these individuals to help
with an assortment of tasks from writing articles, to unloading
delivery trucks, to boxing up journals for shipments.
The bottom line right now
is that we need your support. I am asking our readers, our
friends and our supporters—anyone who’s life has been touched
by HIV/AIDS—to make a donation and support our efforts to
distribute Positively Aware free to those individuals who
need it most. HIV is a disease that affects all of us. AIDS
is not over.
Please send in your contribution—today.
Charles E. Clifton
Editor
All donations can be sent
to:
Test Positive Aware Network
1258 W. Belmont Ave.
Chicago, IL 60657
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