If you are living with HIV in the UK, this section of our website is designed to provide up-to-date and useful information at your fingertips on issues such as rights, confidentiality, employment, benefits, and much more.
There is also lots of information on how you can get involved with NAT’s work. Read below to find out how you can influence decision makers on the issues you care about by joining the HIV Activist Network or help us challenge inaccurate and stigmatising reporting on HIV by becoming a member of the Press Gang.
Your feedback is vital in shaping NAT’s work. Get in touch and tell us your views and issues here.
Who is NAT?
NAT is the UK's leading charity dedicated to transforming society's response to HIV. We provide fresh thinking, expert advice and practical resources. We campaign for change.
We listen to people living with, and affected by, HIV and those who support them and we put the needs and rights of HIV positive people at the heart of everything we do.
What do we do to help you?
We research the issues that affect people living with HIV in UK. We work to make sure that policy and decisions made about HIV are based on evidence.
We educate teachers, employers, lawyers, the police, healthcare workers and other professionals. We provide resources to help them understand HIV and to ensure they do not discriminate against people with HIV.
We engage with journalists and schools. We make sure the information they give out is accurate and does not stigmatise people with HIV.
We influence parliamentarians and government officials at a local and national level. We advocate for them to consider the needs of people living with HIV when making policies and laws, and to ensure they invest in HIV prevention care and support.
Come and explore our site to find out more about our work.
What have we achieved recently?
We work on a range of issues; these are just three recent examples of our work.
Shaping attitudes – NAT has recently commissioned research by Ipsos MORI into public knowledge and attitudes to HIV. This follows on from previous studies conducted in 2007, 2005 and 2000. NAT will use the findings to engage the media and stimulate debate.
Challenging injustice – NAT recently persuaded the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to change its policy on HIV and hate crime. Although HIV has been defined in law as a disability since 2006, the CPS guidance did not consider people living with HIV as disabled and so they were not provided with the same level of protection as people with other disabilities. After representations from NAT, the CPS changed their policy and people living with HIV now enjoy exactly the same level of protection as other disabled people from hate crime.
Changing Lives – NAT led a campaign with Rethink, the mental health charity, for the Equality Act to prohibit employers from asking questions about health or disability in advance of a job offer. We were successful in adding an amendment to the Equality Act 2010. It is now unlawful for an employer to ask about HIV before a job offer is made - removing a real obstacle to people with HIV applying for jobs.
News story of the month
HIV charities surprised at gay blood ban reports
11 April 2011
HIV prevention charities say they are surprised at reports that the government
is to announce the end of the gay blood donation before a review has been completed ...
Read story on Pink News
How can I get involved?
Join the HIV Activists Network
The HIV Activists Network has been established in order to give you a greater voice on the topics that matter to you. Taking part in this network can involve anything from letter writing to face-to-face interactions, and NAT is here to guide you on how you can get active. If you have a desire to make a difference and bring about change then the HIV Activists Network wants to hear from you!
Find out more
Join Press Gang
The media is incredibly powerful in influencing public attitudes, so improving the media’s coverage of HIV issues is a vital step towards educating the public and tackling the discrimination experienced by people living with HIV.
If you want to help NAT challenge inaccurate and stigmatising reporting then Press Gang wants to hear from you!
Find out more
Share your experience of living with HIV
The best way to understand the reality of HIV in the UK today is to read true accounts written by people living with HIV.
If you have a story to share on issues such as how you’ve tackled stigma, handled money worries, got a job, or dealt with the immigration or criminal justice systems, as well as how you told those close to you, then NAT would like to hear about your experiences.
Submit your story
Help us fundraise
NAT is always looking for more people to join our large band of enthusiastic and dedicated fundraisers. There are hundreds of ways you can raise money, be it a street collection, hosting an event or taking part in a sponsored run.
If you help raise money for NAT, you can be confident that most of the money will be spent on our primary purpose of transforming the UK's response to HIV. We make sure that at least 75% of the money we receive is spent on our core policy work.
If you want to help make a big difference by helping us to raise funds, as well as have fun, raise awareness and drum up support, then NAT’s fundraising team wants to here from you.
Find out more
Make a donation
Over 80p in every £1 pound donated goes directly to our policy work. NAT is an independent charity that receives limited public funds. We rely on donations and the generosity of our supporters to continue our work. While many other charities in the UK have widened their remits to sexual health, NAT has remained focused on HIV.
Find out more
Does our website give you the information you need?
Are there other things you’d like to see on these webpages?
We want to hear your thoughts.
Get in touch at press@nat.org.uk or john.williams@nat.org.uk