HIV Spreads Among Inmates of Latvian Prisons

Most of the persons who tested positive for HIV in Latvia last year were prison inmates, according to an AIDS Prevention Center official. The center's deputy head Inga Upmace said that prisoners made up 30 percent of the total of 807 new HIV-infected persons registered in Latvia in 2001. "In 80 percent of cases HIV is contracted by drug addicts, who for most part are prison inmates, therefore the number of jailed persons testing positive for HIV is not falling," explained Upmace. She said that the number of HIV cases found at syringe exchange counters for drug addicts had doubled last year. Of all new HIV cases registered in 2001, 20 percent were found by doctor's assistants working at syringe exchange counters in Riga and Tukums.

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