NAM was founded by Peter Scott in 1987. Peter was working at the heart of the community affected by HIV – at the London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard.  At that time there was extensive misinformation about HIV and AIDS, much of it confused and homophobic.

Peter and a group of committed volunteers set about creating a source of calm, authoritative and trustworthy information on which those living with HIV in the UK could rely.  Thus, the National AIDS Manual was born. We were one of the first organisations to produce accurate information on HIV and we quickly became the UK’s primary source of HIV information.

Since then, NAM’s users have grown and diversified within the UK and worldwide, so we are constantly revising, rewriting and adapting our information to take account of new needs and developments. We currently publish a wide range of printed, audio and electronic materials for all communities affected by HIV and those working to support them.

Peter Scott's vision has been central to the development of NAM and he continues to serve as a trustee.

What does NAM stand for?

NAM originally stood for National AIDS Manual. The Manual itself used to be a huge ring binder containing all of the available information on HIV and AIDS.

As NAM now produces much more than just the ‘Manual’ (in fact, we have a diverse range of information resources about HIV and AIDS, in many different formats), we have moved away from being known as the National AIDS Manual to simply NAM.

We still use the term 'NAM Manual' but this now describes a subscription to a collection of our directories, which includes:

• HIV Treatments Directory
• HIV Reference Manual
• Criminal HIV Transmission
• Preventing HIV
• HIV Services in the UK
• HIV & AIDS Services Worldwide