Mission Statement

The Committee of Ten Thousand is a grass-roots, peer-led, education, advocacy and support organization for persons with HIV disease. The majority of our constituency is persons with hemophilia who contracted HIV/AIDS from tainted blood products. We work in solidarity with all communities affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. COTT advocates for disenfranchised chronic disease communities, especially those communities dependent on a safe national blood supply. We are dedicated to the belief that persons with HIV/AIDS and all chronic diseases can lead productive and healthy lives. In the pursuit of our mission, COTT is committed to the following objectives:

• To provide timely and credible HIV/AIDS treatment information.
• To ensure a safe and available national blood supply through vigilant community advocacy and action.
• To codify consumer/client participation at all levels of the federal medical regulatory structure, FDA, NIH, CDC, HCFA and Congress in the areas of product safety, standard of care & research, and health care financing.
• To aggressively pursue resolution of economic & social justice for persons with hemophilia who were infected with HIV/AIDS in the 1980s.
• To be a voice of empowerment & advocacy for the hemophilia/AIDS community and other disenfranchised chronic disease communities by providing peer-led psycho/social programs rooted in personal and community empowerment.

Vision

COTT is committed to working within the context of broad collaborative efforts and coalition building with a wide array of communities, agencies, organizations, and individuals who seek control individual over their own health care. A central theme of the COTT is the development and implementation of programmatic initiatives which illuminate an empowerment road map for the diverse communities impacted by HIV/AIDS and other chronic diseases/disorders. We believe that health is a right and not a privilege and seek to create a world where the health and well being of all peoples replaces profit as the priority.