Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1994. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - July 29, 1994
'IT'S like you're a snake that someone caught," says "Ben", "a snake that everyone comes to look at." He's struggling to find the right words to describe what it feels like to be HIV-positive in Johannesburg Prison.
He begins to sob as he tells how he no longer has a name, no longer has rights. "My name is HIV or Aids kaffir," he says,
The Department of Correctional Services says it fully undertands the serious implications of HIV infection. A handling strategy had been circulated to prisons, and this provided for informed consent for HIV testing, counselling before and after such tests, and confidentiality.
But prisoners tell a different story.
Ben (not his real name) described to the Mail & Guardian in detail the manner in which he and 37 other prisoners with HIV are allegedly stigmatised, verbally and physically abused and denied rights granted to other prisoners.
They were moved last month from their communal cell into isolation cells. They allege they were beaten and teargassed on the night of June 14 and herded into single cells. There they sit alone, unable to work or mingle with other prisoners, spending only three hours together each day.
Ben tells how the prisoners cough and cough in their cold, damp cells. "You can squeeze the water out of our mattresses," he says. No one comes to counsel them. If they want to get to the prison hospital in time to see the doctor, they must bribe the warden with R2 "taxi money" to open their doors early, they allege.
As a group A prisoner, Ben, serving the last few months of a three-year sentence for theft, should be allowed to work and move fairly freely around the prison. "But because I have HIV, all my rights are taken away."
According to the department, some of the prisoners do jobs around the prison and others are allowed to play sport and watch videos. No prisoner, says the department, is allowed to roam freely around the grounds.
After visiting a doctor last year to treat the sores on his face, Ben was tested for HIV, although he claims he was not told this.
A woman doctor broke the news that he was HIV positive in front of a queue of prisoners. "The way she told me it seemed like a joke. Half of the prisoners heard what she said."
He was referred twice to Hillbrow hospital's HIV clinic, but since then he has received no counselling at all. He claims that most of those with him have never been counselled.
"I counsel the others," he says, adding that unless they are given access to social workers soon, "there will be dead bodies in this section". He describes how a recently diagnosed prisoner tried to fling himself down three flights of stairs.
Their food is labelled "HIV" and when they go to collect it, everyone sees. Ben believes his illness is common knowledge in his home township. This is because the section where they are kept is across the way from the awaiting trial section. If granted bail, these prisoners are back on the streets, spreading the news.
Asked to comment, the Department of Correctional Services said the prisoners are detained "in a separate section of the prison to better facilitate their treatment."
The department says that the prisoners receive "intensive medical attention" and are seen by a medical officer of the Soweto Aids Information and Training Centre on a weekly basis. The prisoners are counselled by outside psychologists once a week "according to their needs", and receive "a special high protein diet".
The department said it wouldn't hesitate to investigate any breaches of this policy on prisoners with HIV.
940729
MG940704
Copyright © 1994 - Daily Mail & Guardian. For information about the content or for permission to redistribute, publish or use for broadcast, contact the publisher.
AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted funding from Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Elton John AIDS Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, Pacific Life Foundation and donations from users like you.
Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 1994. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.
Copyright ©1980, 1994. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .