NCJ Number
115769
Journal
Newsweek Dated: (February 13, 1989) Pages: 27-28
Date Published
1989
Length
2 pages
Annotation
This article provides statistics on prisoners with AIDS and details how prisons are dealing with AIDS prisoners and their symptoms.
Abstract
To date only 3,136 confirmed cases of AIDS have been found in prisons, less than 4 percent of the national total. While prison AIDS cases increased by 60 percent last year, those cases identified in the general population increased by 76 percent. In 1987, 49,414 federal prisoners were tested for AIDS antibodies; 1,417 tested positive. In general prison policies relating to AIDS patients are becoming more enlightened. Some States permit terminally-ill patients to return home to die; others provide condoms. Other States quarantine AIDS prisoners, citing the need to protect prisoners from homosexual rape and the sharing of needles. Some AIDS prisoners appreciate their controlled environment and participate in medical testing to develop controls for the disease. Some prisons seek the advice of AIDS patients in developing prison AIDS policy and education programs. Critics of prison AIDS programs and policies cite ignorance and complacency among prison officials and say that a serious prison-based AIDS epidemic may erupt in the 1990's.