Uttar Pradesh: 23 inmates test positive for HIV in Gorakhpur Jail

Gorakhpur, Feb 28: In drastic movement, Twenty-three inmates of the Gorakhpur District Jail have been found to be HIV positive in the past eight months and are being treated at a hospital, an official said Tuesday.

Of 23 infected prisoners in different age groups, 22 males and one female prisoner have tested positive for the deadly virus.

"Health camps to examine prisoners are organized from time to time. At the last few checkup camps, 23 inmates, including a female, have been found HIV positive," claimed Dr Ramdhani Muni, senior jail superintendent of Gorakhpur jail. He added that all the infected prisoners were given counseling and that their treatment had already begun at ART center in BRD medical college. "They get medicines and all medical help from the center," said the officer.

"In tests conducted at 70 jails of UP till December, last year, 265 prisoners have tested HIV positive," he added. The cases have been reported from ranges such as Bareilly, Allahabad, Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Faizabad, Agra, Meerut, Varanasi and Kanpur.