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China Exclusive: Jailed with HIV -- a struggle against despair (4) |
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20:32, July 09, 2007 |
Though data on HIV infection in Chinese prisons and other correctional facilities is not accessible, Joel Rehnstrome, UNAIDS country coordinator in China, says it is very important to implement HIV prevention programs in prisons and other closed settings since many drug users and sex workers are among the incarcerated population.
"The majority of all new HIV infections in China are related to injecting drugs and commercial sex," he says.
The full range of HIV prevention, treatment and care services should be provided in prisons. This includes information about HIV -- the importance of clean needles and syringes and condoms to prevent the spread of HIV -- and offering HIV tests and counseling, he adds.
China only began to offer HIV testing in most of its 670 prisons in 2004. To prevent HIV transmission among prisoners, many provinces transferred those who tested positive to separate wards -- anonymously so as to prevent discrimination inside prison.
In Qingliu, HIV-positive inmates are entitled to free medication and better housing conditions. Rooms in the two-story dorm building have four single wooden beds side by side, with electric fans, a color television and a spacious window that opens onto a big stretch of grass with rolling green mountains in the distance.
In addition to all these, faith, Fan says, is something that HIV-affected inmates badly need.
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
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