Takoradi April- GNA - Mrs Olivia Opoku-Adomah, Western Regional Focal Person of the Ghana AIDS Commission, on Saturday said total abstinence from sex is the best form of protection against Sexual Transmitted Infection (STI), including HIV/AIDS for young people and the youth. She was speaking at the launch of Filla Magazine, a periodic magazine for primary and Junior Secondary Schools pupils and Senior Secondary School students in Takoradi.

Mrs Opoku-Adomah, who is the Regional Economic Planning Officer, said it is not true that abstinence from sex could cause illness or make people timid and therefore, pupils and students should control themselves and abstain from sex until they marry.

She said the youth and young people should be concerned about the fast spread of HIV/AIDS and protect themselves from the disease by avoiding pre-marital sex.

Mrs Opoku-Adomah proposed the establishment of HIV/AIDS Clubs in schools and communities to make those who have little knowledge about the disease know of its effect on the social and economic development of the country. She called on the public to show compassion and love to people living with the disease so that they would not spread it, adding that the more people living with the disease are discriminated against, the more they spread the disease.

Mrs Opoku-Adomah commended the proprietors of the magazine, Guilding Ventures based in Takoradi, for having developed the magazine to highlight issues pertinent to children and young people

She said in recent times, there has been an upsurge of immorality among the youth and this is eating into the moral fabric of the society and hoped the magazine would educate the youth and young people on moral values. Mr. Joe Mensah-Ansah, the Managing Editor of the magazine, said the publication is to assist pupils and students to develop the reading habit and their talents.

He said pupils and students would be encouraged to contribute articles to the magazine, which would educate them HIV/AIDS and topical issues.