Brazen shirts come with AIDS warning

CLEVELAND - In Northeast Ohio, there are 4,000 people diagnosed with HIV. Health advocates and professionals have fought for 30 years to spread the word to keep people safe from the disease.

The AIDS Taskfroce of Greater Cleveland told NewsChannel5 the fear and stigma of HIV and AIDS is still very prevalent, so they came up with an idea to try and change that.

As brazen as it sounds, “no condom, no entry,” is a powerful message to stop the spread of AIDS.

AIDS Taskforce executive director Earl Pike said they aren’t going to stop with the signs carrying their message, they also want to end the stigma that comes with the disease, decades after AIDS and HIV were made public.

"It officially became the worst epidemic human history a couple of years ago and, in the face of that, you have to be willing to do bold things. In the face of something huge, you don't behave in timid ways,” Pike said.

Their t-shirts are a new approach to get people to talk about the disease and make sure they know the risks.

"I put something on a Facebook page asking people to wear the t-shirt. We only had 100 t-shirts and within probably 48 hours, we had 200 people signed up,” Pike said.

The group made more shirts and walked the streets of Cleveland on Friday to get across its message.