Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - May 21, 2002
It was thus essential to the general fight against HIV/Aids that infected inmates received proper anti-Aids treatment.
The correctional services department was beginning to "turn the corner" now with a start being made to providing an anti-Aids cocktail of drugs to infected prisoners.
The drugs being provided were AZT, 3TC, and nevirapine.
Fagan said it should be noted that while the number of unnatural deaths in prison -- such as those due to violence -- remained low and absolutely "rock-steady", the number of natural deaths were rapidly increasing. Almost all of these -- 1169 last year -- were Aids-related.
The conditions in the overcrowded prisons were "not conducive to longevity of those who are HIV-positive", he said.
Lack of fresh air, lack of exercise and high stress levels were some of the factors in this regard.
Aids-related deaths in prisons peaked during the winter months, particularly July and August.
"It is not only sentenced prisoners who are dying. Awaiting trial prisoners are also dying."
HIV-positive prisoners had not all been infected inside prison.
It had been found that the disease was being brought into prisons by HIV-positive young offenders especially, while long-term prisoners, such as those who had been inside for about 15 years, were free of HIV.
Overcrowding remained the root cause of health problems and the spread of contagious diseases, including HIV/Aids and tuberculosis, and the root cause of the overcrowding in turn was the "totally unacceptable" number of awaiting trial prisoners.
"There are far too many prisoners in our prisons. Building new prisons is not the answer. The problem is getting the numbers down. Community corrections is the way to go," Fagan said.
Of the about 175000 inmates, around 55000 were awaiting trial, many for years. This was a "shocking indictment" of the country's justice system.
Forty percent of those awaiting trial (20692) were in prison "only because of poverty", as they could not afford to pay even the very low bail amounts set for them.
Each of these accused had been found by a magistrate to pose no threat to the community, should he or she await trial outside of prison.
Further, apart from the social cost of locking them up in what had been referred to as "universities of crime", it was costing the country about R2-million a day to keep them behind bars.
"This is crazy," Fagan said.
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