High AIDS rates predicted in police force

With the possibility of one in seven police officers living with HIV/AIDS by 2015, experts have warned that crime in South Africa could escalate. The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) said eight percent of police officers had already contracted HIV in 2000, and the figure could rise to 14 percent by 2015. ISS said members of the police force also faced a high risk of infection as a result of dealing with injured people who could be HIV-positive. According to the local newspaper, Die Burger, the institute also warned that HIV/AIDS orphans experiencing social isolation and discrimination could become antisocial individuals, or even violent offenders. Research shows that some 420,000 AIDS orphans are presently living in South Africa.