People With AIDS

People With AIDS (PWA) or People With HIV (PWH), referring to HIV/AIDS positive people, is a term of self-empowerment adopted by people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV/AIDS) in the early years of the HIV/AIDS pandemic as an alternative to the passive "AIDS patient". The phrase arose largely from the ACT UP activist community, however use of the term may or may not indicate association with a particular political group.

Among the early documented uses of the term was by San Francisco nurse Bobbi Campbell, a member of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and later People With AIDS' San Francisco chapter. This group was part of the formation which would be known as the Denver Principles out of the Second National AIDS Forum, which was held in Denver, United States.

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". The predominant attitude is that one should not assume that one's life is over or will end soon solely because they have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. Although most of the earliest organizers have died, and organizations have dissolved or reconfigured into AIDS service organizations (ASOs), the self-empowerment and self-determination aspects of the movement continues. The New York Public Library holds the archives of the New York City chapter of the organization, as well as ACT UP New York's work in the field.