Wilmington News Journal Series Examines Health Issues in Delaware Prisons, Including HIV/AIDS

The Wilmington News Journal on Monday as part of a series on Delaware's prisons published three articles about HIV/AIDS among inmates in the state. Summaries of the articles appear below.

• "AIDS epidemic raging behind bars": Since 1991, the HIV prevalence among prisoners nationwide has been three times the rate among the general U.S. population. However, in Delaware, prisoners are 10 times as likely as the general population to be HIV-positive. Former prison medical workers say that the governor, lawmakers and the correction commissioner are ignoring the epidemic, making AIDS in prison "Delaware's secret death sentence," according to the News Journal (Parra/Williams [1], Wilmington News Journal, 9/26).

• "AIDS hits the street on inmates' release": Although there are no official reports on how Delaware inmates who are released affect the state's HIV prevalence rate, health agency workers and other community workers say there is a link. More than 40% of the state's HIV-positive population live in Wilmington, and many of those people are prisoners or former inmates (Parra/Williams [2], Wilmington News Journal, 9/26).
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• "AIDS turns prison time into death sentence": The article profiles a 37-year-old HIV-positive inmate, Ronald Trotman, who died after contracting pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. His family alleges the Delaware prison refused to treat him despite his family's numerous attempts to have a doctor examine him (Parra/Williams [3], Wilmington News Journal, 9/26).

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