Prisoners to receive compulsory HIV tests By Jiang Zhuqing (China Daily) Updated: 2005-08-15 05:24
Prisoners in Beijing will receive compulsory HIV/AIDS tests, with confirmed
sufferers of the disease getting free medical treatment. The treatment will
continue after the prisoners finish their jail terms.
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Prisoners in the Qingpu Prison in Shanghai receive
medical consult on "AIDS & Drugs" in the picture taken on June 24,
2005. [newsphoto] | The aim is to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS among prisoners and to provide
treatment as part of the capital's efforts to combat the disease, said an
official with the Beijing Prison Management Bureau yesterday.
Ray Yip, director of the Beijing office of Global AIDS Program of the United
States, described the move by the Beijing prison authorities as a "sensible and
effective measure" which would help identify HIV/AIDS sufferers in jail as early
as possible, thus cutting down the potential for spreading the disease.
According to Yip, timely treatment for every HIV/AIDS sufferer can help
prevent the infection spreading to between three and five others.
Prisoners are a high-risk group, with an infection rate of three per
thousand, which is more than four times higher than in the population at large,
he noted.
Statistics indicate that the total number of registered HIV/AIDS sufferers in
Beijing is less than 2,000, said Li Dun, a professor with Tsinghua University.
From last November to March this year, justice and
health departments launched a nationwide HIV/AIDS test among prisoners and
juvenile delinquents being re-educated through labour. No data has been released
about the programme.
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