BEIJING, Nov 14 (AFP) - Southern China's Guangdong province plans to build at least two special prisons for HIV/AIDS inmates to cope with an increasing number of carriers who are serving jail terms, state media reported Monday.
Official statistics showed that Guangdong has about 20 prisoners with AIDS and 518 others infected with HIV currently serving jail terms in the province, China Daily said.
To prevent the spread of the disease among the prison population, the province will put inmates with HIV/AIDS in the special jails, the report quoted local officials as saying.
According to government statistics, there were some 5,000 AIDS patients in Guangdong by the end of last year. After adding in those infected with HIV, the figure was nearer to 40,000, the report said.
Experts forecast that number could grow to 500,000 by the end of 2010, it said.
According to the US Center for Disease Control in China, 90 percent of HIV/AIDS patients in China do not know they have the disease, meaning they continue to unknowingly infect others.
Last year, state media reported that five people who were part of a criminal gang did not know they had HIV/AIDS until they were sentenced to prison.
Experts say infections are increasing by a rapid rate of 30 percent a year and the United Nations warns 10 million people in China could have AIDS by 2010.
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