about POZ

POZ was founded primarily to get information to HIV positive persons for whom it could extend or improve the quality of their lives. Since the first days of the epidemic, access to information was key to survival. Longterm survivors are almost always incredibly well-informed.

We also want to create a common media context between fulltime treatment activists -- the extraordinarily empowered patient -- and those impacted by HIV who are not going to read the technical newsletters and attend meetings. For most people, their local newspapers and the evening news simply aren't enough. POZ is engaging, accessible and isn't homework. POZ brings a much larger HIV-impacted community into a common conversational ballpark.

Finally, POZ challenges popular stereotypes about what it means to face a life-threatening illness. A woman who lives five years after having a malignancy removed from her breast is considered a breast cancer "survivor", even though she still faces extraordinary chances of further cancer complications at some point. Yet tens of thousands of people have been HIV positive for 10 and 15 years, but are still popularly labeled "terminally ill" with an "inevitably fatal" disease.

Language is important. It influences how society, politicians and healthcare providers view people with AIDS. Most importantly, it influences how we view ourselves. If we believe ourselves to be "terminally ill," then we void everything else about our lives. Our love, passion, vision and vitality. Our hopes and dreams. We might as well just plan the funeral and wait to die. POZ delivers the possibility of survival in an inspiring, hopeful manner.

From its first issue, POZ has been made available for free to any person who is HIV positive and cannot afford the modest subscription fee. To date, more than 2,000,000 copies of the magazine have been given away.