Our mission, vision and principles
Our mission
aidsmap provides independent, accurate and accessible information about HIV.
Our vision
A world where HIV is no longer a threat to health or happiness.
Our principles
- Independent, accurate and accessible information is vital in the fight against HIV and AIDS.
- Knowledge empowers and equips people to manage their health.
- Knowledge enables advocates, campaigners and communities to take action on health.
- The information we provide should help our audiences effect change in their own lives, their work or their communities.
- Reducing HIV stigma removes barriers to testing and treatment.
- Social inequalities must be addressed to deliver health equality.
- We strive to serve individuals, communities and providers across the world, recognising that needs and culture differ.
Download our Strategy for 2022-2025.
Our annual reports
See how aidsmap has developed over the last few years by taking a look through our annual trustees' reports and audited accounts. Our board of trustees are volunteers with a valuable mix of skills and experience. You can find out more about our current board of trustees here.
If you have any questions, or are interested in getting involved, please contact us by email at info@nam.org.uk or call us on 020 3727 0123.
Maintaining high standards
We are committed to ensuring the information we produce is:
- Accurate
- Accessible
- Clearly communicated
- Evidence-based
- Independent
- Up to date
- Relevant
- Rooted in the experiences of those most affected by HIV.
User feedback and review panels help aidsmap evaluate its publications. Our resources are better as a result of this, which means people can continue to use aidsmap.com as a trusted source of useful information about HIV and AIDS.
We keep a record of feedback we receive and incorporate any suggestions into the ongoing development of our resources. The collection of these ideas and suggestions helps us focus on specific things, but also gives us a good sense of the trends or themes emerging. When requests build up around a similar theme or topic it helps aidsmap identify gaps in information.
We work with medical review panels who review our resources to ensure our standards are being met.
People with HIV are able to contribute their expertise and share their experiences by being part of our peer review panel. Members of this panel provide us with comments on our patient information booklets and other resources for people with HIV.
Your feedback and input really does make a difference. If you would like to comment on any of aidsmap's resources please contact us.
- inaccuracies or errors, ideally with a link to what has been spotted
- positive and/or constructive feedback about what is effective, valuable and useful about specific publications
- additional information that would be useful for revising work, e.g. comments on pitch, tone, language level
- general comments or observations, e.g. emerging themes that might suggest a new/changed information need, how people use resources, context
- requests for help or additional information
- any other comments.
Our history
NAM (now known as aidsmap) was founded by Peter Scott in 1987. Peter was working at the heart of the community affected by HIV – at the London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard. At that time there was extensive misinformation about HIV and AIDS, much of it confused and homophobic.
Peter and a group of committed volunteers set about creating a source of calm, authoritative and trustworthy information on which those living with HIV in the UK could rely. Thus, the National AIDS Manual (or NAM) was born.
As these pictures show, when the charity was founded, the 'Manual' was a huge ring binder containing the available information on HIV and AIDS. Produced at a time when there was lots of hysteria and little reliable information, it was an important, evidence-based, reference point for professionals as well as people diagnosed with HIV and AIDS.
We were one of the first organisations to produce accurate information on HIV and we quickly became the UK’s primary source of HIV information.
Since then, aidsmap’s users have grown and diversified within the UK and worldwide, and our resources have developed and evolved over the years to reflect the changing epidemic, developments in treatment and care and the changing information needs of people living with and working in HIV all over the world. Peter Scott's vision has been central to the development of aidsmap.
We now have a huge range of HIV information resources, including digital and print written information, videos, podcasts and live broadcasts. By providing information on a wide range of platforms, in different languages, we are able to reach larger and broader audiences globally.
Although those weighty ringbinders are now tucked away in the aidsmap archive, the Manuals are an important part of our charity's history. The 'essence' of this approach to delivering HIV and AIDS information is reflected through our day-to-day work, providing calm, reliable, authoritative, independent information to anyone who needs it.