UP: 23 inmates of Gorakhpur jail test HIV positive

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 here, an official said today. On the instructions of senior officials, several health camps were organised at the prison and 23 inmates, including a woman, were found HIV positive, Jail Superintendent Ramdhani Muni said. During the camps, spread over eight months, 1,400 prisoners underwent tests to check for HIV, the officer said. They are being treated at the ART (Anti-Retroviral Therapy) centre of the BRD Medical College and Hospital, the superintendent said. There are more than 1,800 inmates in the jail, tests for the remaining prisoners would be conducted soon, the officer said. Jail authorities have also sought the help of counsellors for those found HIV positive, an official said.

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