Does the celebration of St. Valentine's Day promote promiscuity? Now more or less at par with Ghana's official holidays, St. Valentine in Ghana has become a very noisy and money minting affair.

In just over three weeks, the day would be upon us and already the marketing has begun.

With the menace of HIV/AIDS still hovering and wreaking havoc, some public-spirited individuals and government officials are also sounding the alarm that St. Valentine Day could directly or indirectly lead to the spread of the disease. "It all boils down to sex", said a worried parent to ADM.

"If it was just the exchange of gifts and cards, that would not be bad, but they go to all these night clubs and dance and drink and one thing leads to another." He was also not happy with the breweries, which he said exploited the occasion to target young people with their advertising.

Last week, a senior public official, the Central Regional Population Officer, Mr. Paul Kobena Djan, called for self-control in celebrating Valentine Day "so as not to defeat the anti HIV/AIDS campaign in the country."

In a story posted by the Ghana News Agency, Mr. Djan expressed regret that Ghanaians, especially the youth regarded Valentine Day as "a time for making love."

He said "this perception has neutralised all our efforts to sensitise the youth to abstain from premarital sex" and blamed some of the FM radio stations for promoting "this misconception about the day".

Driving home his point, he explained that "about four or five years back when we had few radio stations in the country, not much was known about the day," and cautioned that any activity, which could promote sexual promiscuity at this time that serious efforts were being made to combat HIV/AIDS pandemic should be played down.

The Regional Population Officer appealed to the management of radio and television stations to desist from promoting "the negative sides of the celebration" and urged chiefs, religious bodies and unit committee members to discourage the youth from organising activities, which could expose the people especially the youth to indiscriminate sex.

He appealed to youth associations to organise programmes to keep their members away from activities that would expose them to HIV/AIDS.