Accra, Dec. 4, GNA - The Reverend Alex Twumasi, President of United Prayer Network Rehabilitation Centre (UPRC), a Ghanaian-based NGO, on Monday said the only hope in the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic was total abstinence from pre-marital sex by the youth.

He said the creation of an HIV/AIDS free world depended on the sex lifestyle that the youth adopted now, adding that abstinence was the surest way to avoid the pandemic.

Rev. Twumasi was speaking at a forum organised by UPRC for second cycle students at the Labone Secondary School in Accra on the theme; "Catch Them Young". The Ghana@50 Secretariat, Assess Ghana Limited and Regent University sponsored it.

He urged organisations and institutions working in the fight against the pandemic to lay more emphasis on abstinence as they propagated prevention methods and management of the disease. Rev. Twumasi told the students that millions of people throughout the world continued to be infected with HIV, adding that sub-Sahara Africa still accounted for the majority of new HIV infections. But, he said, the good news was that rapidly rising numbers of new HIV infections and AIDS deaths were not inevitable, for it could now be prevented and managed, so that people living with the virus could not only live longer but also enjoy a high quality of life.

He added that the public should "defeat the stigma, shame, denial and discriminations, which still prevent meaningful and effective action against the HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support". Rev. Twumasi said all these pains and suffering, which in no small way impacted negatively on national development and world economy, could be avoided, if the philosophy of abstinence was imbibed by the people. UPRC, which was established three years ago, has been working with churches youth organisations and schools in the Eastern Region. It is aimed at creating awareness of HIV/AIDS and prevention through abstinence.