Forty Makassar jail inmates tested positive for HIV

MAKASSAR (Antara): Of about 700 jail inmates in Makassar, a total of 40 have tested positive for the HIV/AIDS virus, a prison official said Monday.

"Most of the victims are male and two have died," Gunung Sari Correctional Institute head Kusnin said.

He said his prison was also providing counseling for 280 prisoners who were addicted to drugs.

Data available at South Sulawesi's HIV/AIDS Handling Commission showed that some 210 blood donations to the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) mostly made by prison inmates were infected with the AIDS virus.

Kusnin said many AIDS sufferers in correctional institutes were drug users.

"We have proposed to the minister of legal and human rights affairs that inmates involved in narcotic cases be separated from other prisoners so that the HIV/AIDS disease does not spread," he added.

The number of HIV/AIDS cases in South Sulawesi up to December 2006 reached 1,232, and up to March 2007, there were an additional 209 cases.




Source : www.thejakartapost.com