“KNOW YOUR STATUS”  Initiative

For the past decade, government funding for effective marketing of HIV-prevention has been progressively focusing on highly-targeted, high-risk populations.  The result has been an increase in the transmission rates of HIV in our country, and an increase in the number of newly-diagnosed people with HIV saying “I never thought I would get it”.  During this time, Brad Ogilvie and the staff of The Mosaic Initiative (TMI), have been diligently working with the rest of the community – in secondary schools, on college campuses, in churches, and in the business community, to fill the enormous gaps.

In May, 2006, the federal government reversed course, with the Centers for Disease Control announcing new guidelines that encourage doctors to offer HIV-tests to ALL patients between ages 13 and 64, acknowledging that the effectiveness of previous policies have not achieved the hoped-for results.   TMI supports this “broad net” approach to awareness, believing that it will alter the alienating stigma that surrounds HIV-testing.  At the same time, we know that we must create a more compassionate and supportive environment – in our doctor’s offices and medical clinics, in schools, in social service agencies, and in all arenas where people may be receiving the news that they have HIV.

A major thrust of our effort is to promote the “KNOW YOUR STATUS” campaign throughout the community – including not only the areas previously mentioned, but through posters in restrooms, on coffee mugs, on buttons and pins, and on the print and internet dating and matchmaking services

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