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Inmates urge access to free AIDS drugs

    JOHANNESBURG

    HIV-positive inmates at Western Kenya's Kibos Prison have urged the government to include them in its free anti-AIDS drug programme.

    Prison officials say the facility has no specialised treatment available to manage the seven known cases of inmates with HIV/AIDS.

    A local newspaper, The East African Standard, quoted the prison's chief officer, Caiphus Chepus, as saying: "We have written to the headquarters on how to assist infected prisoners, with the aim of getting drugs from the Ministry of Health."

    According to the international rights group, Human Rights Watch, HIV in prisons spreads with "frightening efficiency, due to sexual violence, lack of access to condoms, and lack of information.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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