Provincial coordinator for Bulawayo, Mgcini Sibanda, said a lot of prisoners were contracting the virus in prisons.
“Our government is still in denial,” Sibanda said. “Recent research has shown that there is a lot of unprotected sex going on in our prisons.”
Although the government provides antiretroviral drugs to HIV positive inmates, poor diet remains a concern.
“HIV positive people are just given basic starch such as sadza with no other c nutritious food, which is recommended for people living with the virus,” he said.
“We have raised this issue with the relevant authorities on a number of times and the answer we normally get is that prisons are not five star hotels.”
Sibanda said many HIV positive prisoners failed to take the drugs as required. About 1,1 million Zimbabweans live with the virus.
Post published in: News