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People With AIDS (PWA) means "person with HIV/AIDS", also sometimes phrased as Person Living with AIDS. It is a term of self-empowerment, adopted by those with the virus in the early years of the pandemic (the 1980s), as an alternative to the passive implications of "AIDS patient". The phrase arose largely from the ACT UP activist community, however use of the term may or may not indicate that the person is associated with any particular political group.
The PWA self-empowerment movement believes that those living with HIV/AIDS have the human rights to "take charge of their own life, illness, and care, and to minimize dependence on others".[This quote needs a citation] The predominant attitude is that one should not assume that one's life is over and will end soon solely because they have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. Although most of the earliest organizers have died, and organizations dissolved or reconfigured into AIDS service organizations (ASOs), the self-empowerment and self-determination aspects of the movement continue.
In 2009, the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA) and POZ magazine announced a new initiative called The Denver Principles Project.[1] The Denver Principles Project will recommit the HIV community to the Denver Principles and dramatically increase NAPWA's membership.[1] With a vastly increased membership, NAPWA will be better able to advocate for effective HIV prevention and care, as well as to combat the stigma that surrounds HIV and impedes education, prevention and treatment of HIV.[1]
