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Half of all prisoners HIV-positive

    JOHANNESBURG

    More than half of over 25,000 inmates in Zimbabwe's 41 prisons are living with HIV/AIDS, a new study has revealed.

    The report compiled by the Institute of Correctional and Security Studies points to an AIDS disaster unfolding in the country's prisons.

    A local newspaper, The Zimbabwe Independent, quoted researcher Tadesse Hussein Ali as saying: "It is a sad reality. An estimated 51.4 percent of inmates held in Zimbabwean prisons, as of April 2004, were infected with AIDS."

    The figures come at a time when the country is struggling to combat HIV/AIDS on a number of fronts, amid accusations of a slow response to the pandemic by government.

    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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