What Do You Think?

We need your guidance and assistance. As it says in our organization's Mission Statement, "Body Positive is ... solely devoted to empowering people who are living with and affected by HIV and AIDS." Body Positive magazine is a big part of that effort.

Our aim is to publish information on a wide variety of subjects of importance and interest to the very diverse HIV/AIDS community. Our coverage of health- and treatment-related issues includes the monthly "Simply Medical" column and features on nutrition, adherence, and complementary therapies. We report on legal and political developments, such as New York's new contact tracing and names reporting laws, and bread-and-butter issues such as employment and benefits. We bring our readers information on lifestyle topics -- traveling, for example, or living with pets -- from an HIV point of view. We try to balance our content to meet the needs of the many special communities within the HIV/AIDS community -- people of color, women, people in recovery, incarcerated individuals, the elderly, children. And we print what's happening in the rest of the world, places like Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, where new HIV and prophylactic meds are not available to the people who need them.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic, and the needs of those infected and affected by the virus, have changed a lot over the years and continue to change at a rapid pace. To keep up with those changing needs, and consistent with the Body Positive mission of empowerment, from time to time we ask you, our readers, to help us out.

Please take some time to fill out the questionnaire below. We want to know who you are, what you think of Body Positive, how well it meets your needs, and how we can make it better. Your answers will help us plan future issues. All answers will be kept confidential, and, of course, you have the option of responding anonymously.

There are several ways you can send us your answers. Obviously, you can cut the pages out of the magazine or photocopy them. Mail the completed questionnaire to Body Positive Survey, 19 Fulton Street, Suite 308B, New York, NY 10038. You can also send it to us by fax at (212) 566-4539. If you have access to the Internet, there's an easier and cheaper (and more fun!) way to send us your answers -- electronically. Simply visit our website, www.thebody.com/bp/bp.html, and do what it says.

We want to hear from as many of you as possible. To that end, we are going to run the questionnaire again next month. Also, if you pass your copy of Body Positive on to anyone else, we ask that you photocopy the questionnaire so that all readers can respond.

As thanks for taking the time to help us, we'd like to send you a gift.* Respondents have the choice of receiving a Body Positive T-shirt (size large, while supplies last), getting a six-month subscription to Body Positive magazine (new or extension), having a personal or other ad run in Body Positive for two months free, or receiving a free copy of Positive Options, Body Positive's handbook for people living with HIV (*Sorry, we can send gifts to the United States and Canada only).

All answers must be received by January 1, 2000. We will analyze the responses and let you know what people who read BP are thinking.

Help us start the new century off right by letting us know what you want to see in your magazine. We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
Laura Engle, Editor