The Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Baba Jamal Ahmed, has appealed to the youth to step up their HIV/AIDS education campaigns in the communities to reduce the spread of the virus.
He said if the rate at which the virus was spreading among the youth was not checked it would affect productivity.
Mr Baba Jamal was addressing Moslem Youth and school children at the Moslem annual Sallah HIV/AIDS awareness campaign organized by the Kwahu Moslem Youth Association at Atibie in the Kwahu South District.
The Deputy Regional Minister said the best way to avoid contracting the disease was to abstain from pre-marital sex.
He advised parents to take advantage of the free education programme to send their children to school, adding that he was born by poor Moslem
parents but they were able to educate him to the tertiary level.
Mr Baba Jamal urged the Ghana AIDS Commission and the district assembly to assist the association to intensify its programmes on HIV/AIDS.
The District Chief Executive, Mr Joseph Omare, who chaired the function, said the assembly would give financial assistance to the
association to run its programmes next year.