Guangdong Province is to build at least two special prisons for HIV/AIDS inmates within the next two years.

Relevant departments are currently selecting cities for the construction of the two special prisons, according to sources from the Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Justice.

"Currently, we have no further details regarding the special prisons," said an official from the bureau yesterday.

The decision came after an increasing number of AIDS and HIV carriers were reported in the province's prisons in recent years.

Many local deputies from the People's Congress and members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) have also urged government departments to build the special prisons as soon as possible to handle the province's increasing number of criminals with HIV/AIDS.

Wang Weiyang, a member of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the CPPCC is such an advocate. In March, Wang submitted a proposal urging for the speedy construction of special prisons and better management of such criminals.

Statistics from the Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Justice revealed that the province has reported about 1,000 AIDS and HIV virus carrier cases in prisons.

Guangdong's first inmate with the AIDS virus was identified in May 2000.

Currently, 20 AIDS patients and 518 HIV carriers are serving their jail terms in Guangdong's prisons.

Since the fatal virus is able to spread quickly in such an environment, Wang believes that the number of AIDS-carrying inmates would be sure to increase, posing further problems for the management of prisons in the province.

Statistics from Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Public Health indicated that the number of AIDS patients in Guangdong reached 5,051 by the end of last year.

However, experts predicted that the figure was in fact nearer to 40,000 including both AIDS and HIV carriers and this number could grow in the future.

Experts forecast that the prosperous province could have around 500,000 HIV carriers and AIDS patients by the end of 2010.

Currently, Guangdong has the fifth largest population of AIDS patients and HIV carriers in China.

Yunnan Province in Southwest China is the worst HIV/AIDS-hit region, followed by Henan Province, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Guangdong now has a total of 145 hospitals designated to the treatment of HIV and AIDS.

In June, the province started offering free AIDS and HIV tests to its residents.

(China Daily November 14, 2005)