Sukkur Central Jail inmate diagnosed HIV Positive: sources

SUKKUR: An inmate of Sukkur Central Jail has been diagnosed HIV Positive, citing sources ARY News reported on Thursday.

A prisoner who has been in jail for three years, has been found infected with Human Immuno-deficiency Virus and the jail authorities have initiated medical treatment of the patient, sources said.

Diagnostic test of prisoners in the jail could not be conducted further as no more screening kits available in the prison, sources said.

There are apprehensions about prevalence of HIV in more prisoners of the central jail, sources said.

The jail officials have written a letter to concerned authorities seeking supply of more screening kits of the disease.

The Sindh Assembly was recently apprised that as many as 2,847 prisoners were suffering from hepatitis and some 84 have AIDS in jails across the province.

During a Question Hour session in the provincial assembly, Minister for Prisons Syed Nasir Hussain Shah told the members that currently 2,847 prisoners were suffering from hepatitis, 84 jail inmates, all males, have AIDS, while 383 men and two women were suffering from chronic diseases in 18 jails of Sindh.

It is to be mentioned here that following an alarming HIV outbreak in Larkana’s Ratodero town, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), UNAIDS and the local AIDS control authorities had decided to launch a ‘HIV Biological and Behavioural Survey’ in the five major jails of Sindh to ascertain the prevalence of HIV among the prisoners, according to sources.

Shockwaves were generated globally following the news of the devastating HIV outbreak in Ratodero where 778 persons including 640 children tested positive to HIV.

Five prisons of Sindh including Central Prison Karachi, District Jail Malir, Center Prison Hyderabad, Central Prison Larkana and Central Prison Sukkur were selected for the survey.