Geneva - One out of every five inmates is HIV positive in Irish and Spanish jails and rates are alarmingly high in many other European prisons, the United Nations AIDS agency said yesterday. In France, HIV infection rates among inmates are 10 times the national level, said a UNAIDS statement giving figures from a yet-to-be released survey on AIDS in European prisons.
UNAIDS said its survey of 23 prison systems in Europe found that Spanish jails had the highest HIV rate, with 23 per cent of all inmates, followed by Ireland with 20 per cent and Portugal with 16.8 per cent.