China denies
reports of prisons for HIV-positive inmates

Chinese officials on Thursday denied reports that Guangdong province, home to Guangzhou and Shenzhen, plans to build special prisons to segregate HIV-positive prisoners from other inmates, Agence France-Presse reports. Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Liu Jianchao said the province instead will improve conditions at existing prisons to meet the medical needs of HIV-positive inmates and to provide HIV antibody testing to all prisoners. Guangdong Bureau of Justice officials earlier this month said they had planned to build two new prisons to house HIV-positive inmates and were in the process of selecting sites for the facilities. More than 1,000 HIV cases have been reported among prisoners in the province since 2000. (Advocate.com)