China Denies Reports of Plans To Build Prisons for HIV-Positive Inmates
China on Thursday denied reports that Guangdong province has plans to build prisons to house its HIV-positive inmates, saying the government will improve existing facilities, AFP/Yahoo! News reports (AFP/Yahoo! News, 11/17). Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Liu Jianchao said, "China will increase facilities in the present prisons to provide free examinations and treatment for AIDS prisoners in order to give them better medical care" (Reuters, 11/17). Officials in the Guangdong Bureau of Justice earlier this month said that the provincial government within the next two years plans to build at least two prisons to house its HIV-positive inmates. The unnamed sources said government agencies were selecting sites for the construction of the prisons but did not provide any further details. Since the province identified its first HIV-positive inmate in 2000, officials have reported about 1,000 HIV cases among prisoners, according to the justice bureau (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 11/15).
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