After prisons of central Assam’s Nagaon district, five inmates in Silchar central jail have tested HIV positive. This includes two convicts and three undertrials who are undergoing mandatory tests. On October 29, four inmates from nearby Karimganj district prison too confirmed being HIV-positive taking the count to nine in Barak valley jails and the figure is likely to increase further as reports of many are yet to be obtained.
One of the two convicts who tested HIV+ in Silchar Central Jail is a resident of Manipur while the other is a truck driver. “Truck drivers sometimes don’t use protection during sex. The person tested positive after coming here. The second person mentioned that he was involved in unprotected sexual contact. They both were infected because their sexual activity was unsafe. On the other hand, the three undertrials are drug addicts,” said Ashutosh Barman, Joint Health Director Cachar.
Earlier, a total of 85 prisoners of Nagaon Central Jail and Special Jail were detected HIV positive in September. Of the 85 inmates who tested Human Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV) positive, 45 are from special jail and 40 from central jail located in Nagaon town, informed Dr L C Nath, Superintendent Nagaon BP Civil Hospital. According to sources in the Nagaon district health department, most of the HIV positive inmates are injectable drug users and indulged in the usage of the syringe from multiple users.
Principal Secretary, Health Department, Anurag Goel had stated that the Assam State AIDS Control Society (ASACS) detected a total of 20,085 HIV positive cases in Assam till June 2021 since 2002. The Kamrup (Metro) district has the highest number of 6,888, followed by 4,609 in Cachar and 1,245 in Dibrugarh.
“Recently due to index testing of the High-Risk Group (HRG) of people, an increase in the HIV cases has been reported in districts like Morigaon, Nagaon and Nalbari. Although in the aforesaid districts, there were earlier no high HIV prevalence, index testing of the prison inmates (especially the injecting drug users) done in the jails, the cases have increased.” Goel said
AIDS control department looks after the health issues of the jail inmates. The team visits the Silchar Central Jail every six months and conducts tests for the prisoners. Meanwhile, five prisoners who tested positive are kept in isolation reducing the chance of any further spread.
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