This pamphlet makes that case for abstention from sex as the best means of avoiding HIV/AIDS.

Readers learn that AIDS -- Acquired Immunodfeficiency Syndrome -- is the incurable end stage of infection with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus; that the virus destroys the infected person's immune system, rendering him or her vulnerable to potentially lethal opportunistic infections which an uninfected person would easily fight off; and that once infected, a person can transmit the disease through sexual contact and needle sharing for life.

They are told that any man or woman can become infected with the virus, and that abstaining from sex is the most effective means of preventing infection.

The signs of early HIV infection and full-blown AIDS are described, and anyone who has engaged in the unsafe practices that can transmit the disease is urged to undergo testing.

The pamphlet warns that while new medicines can lengthen the lives of those infected with HIV, there is still no cure and no vaccine.

Those wishing more information are referred to In the Know Zone, Fox Pro Media's free STD information Web site, and the National and International AIDS Information Hotlines.