AIDS deaths in prisons fall sharply

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By Associated Press

Published: 07/12/2001

AIDS-related deaths in the nation's prisons have fallen sharply because of better treatment, but increasing numbers of inmates have tested positive for the virus that causes the disease, a Justice Department study says.
In 1999, 242 state prisoners died from AIDS-related causes, down from a 1995 peak of 1,010, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reported recently.
There were nearly 10,000 confirmed AIDS cases in federal, state and local correctional facilities in 1999: 6,200 in state prisons, 3,100 in local jails and 430 in federal institutions. The overall inmate population was 1.9 million.
From 1995 to 1999, the number of state and federal prisoners testing positive for HIV rose 1,500 to nearly 25,800. New York held 7,000 HIV-positive state and federal inmates in 1999, more than any other state.
The decline in deaths and increase in the number of people with the virus occurred as the inmate population in federal, state and local correctional facilities soared 19 percent from 1995 to 1999. The number of HIV-positive prisoners grew at a slower rate, 6 percent, than the overall prison population.
'It does seem there are some positive trends reflecting decreasing death rates, but AIDS cases in prison are still five times the rate of the U.S. population generally,' said Jennifer Kates, senior program officer for HIV/AIDS policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation in Menlo Park, Calif.
The Justice Department also found that incarcerated women are at greater risk. The HIV-positive rate was 3.4 percent among female inmates in state prisons, compared with 2.1 percent among male inmates.
Advocacy groups say much more needs to be done in caring for inmates.
With the introduction of different drugs and therapies, 'There has been vast improvement in the effectiveness' of care, said the study.
While prisoners 'are getting better treatment than they were five years ago, to say that they are getting decent treatment is an overstatement,' said Carlos Arboleda, director of treatment education at the National Minority AIDS Council.
'If there is a lockdown, inmates may not have access to treatment,' Arboleda said. 'Security always supersedes treatment and that's the nature of prisons. I don't know if it's ever going to change.'
The study did not indicate whether inmates had contracted AIDS or HIV before they entered prison or after.

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