Prisons for HIV/AIDS carriers?

Prisons for HIV/AIDS carriers?

I was shocked to read The Jakarta Post's article on
April 4, 2002 about the increasing number of inmates afflicted by
HIV/AIDS in Jakarta's prisons. The Post quoted health officials
as saying that 22 percent of 200 prisoners who took HIV/AIDS
tests at Salemba Penitentiary in Central Jakarta tested positive.
These figures are indeed appalling if the report is accurate.

This raises the suspicion that the same thing has also
happened in other prisons. To my understanding, people
contracting the deadly virus are "finished", confined to
isolation as they could pose a dangerous threat to others.

The government may not take this issue lightly. If the report
is correct, it should take immediate steps to safeguard other
inmates and secure their future. Prisoners are sent to jail to
absolve their "sins", not to end their lives.

The first step that should be taken is to test all inmates to
see how large the number of carriers in prisons are. Those who
test positive should then be confined to separate jails. Where
possible, a special prison for the infected should be
established. Of course, this is expensive because each test costs
Rp 85,000, which amounts to about Rp 180 million for all 2,106
inmates.

This is a huge amount of money but do we want to see inmates
die prematurely? I think nobody would want to see members of
their family end their lives in jail.

ANDI ABDUSSALAM

Tangerang, Banten