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HIV in Prisons and Jails, 1996

NCJ Number
174437
Author(s)
Laura M. Maruschak
Date Published
July 1999
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This is a review of HIV in prisons and jails in 1996.
Abstract

Provides the number of HIV-positive and active AIDS cases among prisoners held in each state and the federal prison system at yearend 1996. For prisons, the report provides data on the number of AIDS-related deaths, HIV-testing policies, a breakdown for women and men with AIDS, and comparisons to AIDS rates in the general populations. For local jail inmates in 1996 and state and federal prisoners in 1997, the report gives national estimates of the percentage of HIV-positive persons or confirmed AIDS cases. Based on the 1996 Survey of Inmates in Local Jails and the 1997 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities, the report also provides such estimates by sex, race, Hispanic origin, age, education, marital status, and current offense and estimates by selected risk factors, such as prior drug use. This document is Chapter I of 1996-1997 Update: HIV/AIDS, STDs, and TB in Correctional Facilities Series: Issues and Practices, a joint report from the National Institute of Justice, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and BJS.

  • Between 1995 and 1999 the number of HIV-positive prisoners grew at a slower rate (6%) than the overall prison population (19%). 
  • The overall rate of confirmed AIDS among the nation's prison population (0.60%) was 5 times the rate in the U.S. general population (0.12%).
  • In a 1-month period, June 2000, facilities in Indian country admitted 7,151 inmates and discharged 7,201 inmates.