MOSCOW, Oct 4 (AFP) - Some two-thirds of Russia's jail inmates suffer from mental illnesses, serious diseases from AIDS to tuberculosis and syphilis, or alcohol and drug addictions, a top justice ministry official said.

"Over 120,000 prisoners suffer from mental conditions, 35,000 are HIV positive, over 58,000 have tuberculosis, 55,000 are alcoholics and 86,000 are drug addicts," Vladimir Yalunin, chief of the ministry's penal department, was quoted as saying by Interfax.

"Prisons admit some 30,000 tuberculosis sufferers a year," Yalunin said, assuring however that improved medical care -- sponsored in part by 38-million-dollars from the World Bank -- slashed the number of incarcerated active sufferers from 100,000 to 58,700.

According to Yalunin, Russia's prison population stands at 777,000. It was estimated at 820,000 as of October last year.

Russia has taken stuttering steps towards revamping its criminal code, introducing alternative sentencing for crimes in a bid to cut down on the overcrowding which plagues one of the largest penitentiary systems in the world.

With 628 prisoners for every 100,000 inhabitants, Russia has the world's third highest incarceration rate in the world -- behind the Cayman Islands and the United States, which has the highest rate of 686, according to a January 2003 study published by the International Center for Prison Studies.

041004
AF041010

©AFP 2004.. All Rights Reserved. AFP articles contained on the AEGiS web site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without AFP's prior written permission. You may make one copy of each article for your personal, non-commercial use only; more copies would require AFP's prior written permission.  http://www.afp.com/

AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, Elton John AIDS Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, Bridgestone Firestone Trust Fund and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2004. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

©1990, 2004 - AEGiS. AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. 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.