"The “new” syndrome discovered 25 years ago has become one of the deadliest epidemics in human history, killing more than 25 million people around the world..." - Centers for Disease Control

When AIDS was first discovered, it was labeled a "Homosexual Disease", but today it is well known that it effects all people, regardless of their sex, age, color, etc., and our society is well informed about the disease. There has been major advancements in the treatment and prevention of AIDS; but prevention is still the only "Cure". An estimated 40,000 Americans become infected with HIV every year, and many of these cases are young people under the age of 25.

The above fact is scary... Sex and AIDS go hand and hand when young people are the statistic... even though there are other factors, such as poverty and drugs that play a role in the spread of this disease. As debates go on about young adults, sex, and AIDS we often hear, "providing teenagers with condoms encourages sex".

In my opinion young people will continue to have sex, so our society needs to educate and encourage protection, rather than focusing on "Sex is bad"; and this can be done without encouraging sex.

The issue isn't about whether sex is good or bad... it's about caring whether you live or die. The design for AIDS awareness represents "Self love". Wear the shirt... take your hands and place them over the hand prints and then ask yourself,

"Do I love myself enough to protect myself; from AIDS and HIV?" -Victor Rios

25% of “Self Love” sales are donated to the Frannie Peabody Center in Portland, ME, to support HIV/AIDS research and services in Maine.

If you’d like to view our products click here

or feel free to make a secure donation online below

Quick References... visit the resources for more detailed information.

• Prevention: abstinence, be faithful to one partner or have fewer partner, use condoms or other forms of protection consistently and correctly, do not share or reuse needles of any kind, and get tested... ignorance is HIV's greatest form of conception.



• Symptoms: Extreme fatigue, rapid weight loss from an unknown cause, persistent diarrhea and high fevers, a change in illness pattern, either in frequency, severity, or length of sickness, appearance of one or more purple spots on the surface of the skin, inside the mouth, anus or nasal passages, whitish coating on the tongue, throat or vagina. Be advised it can take as short as a year to as long as 10 to 15 years to go from being infected with HIV to "full-blown" AIDS.

FACTS (U.S.)

• There are two types of HIV, HIV-1 and HIV-2. Little is known about the best approach to the clinical treatment and care of patients infected with HIV-2.



• CDC estimates that about 1 million people in the United States are living with HIV or AIDS. About one quarter of these people do not know that they are infected; not knowing puts them and others at risk.



• HIV/AIDS 2005 study: for males diagnosed, 67% were caused by male-to-male contact; for females 80% accounted for heterosexual contact.



• In 2005, blacks (including African Americans) accounted for 49% of the estimated number of HIV/AIDS cases diagnosed; followed by whites at 31%.

TOP