22 prisoners tested HIV positive in Gorakhpur District Jail

After Unnao, 22 jail inmates, including one woman, in Gorakhpur District Jail have tested HIV positive during routine health check up conducted on about 1500 prisoners by a team of doctors from the BRD Medical College.

Gorakhpur is hometown of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Significantly, the Chief Minister was in Gorakhpur when the news trickled in from jail authorities about 22 prisoners being tested HIV Positive.   

Startled by the news, the state government has rushed a team of the UP State AIDS Cell Control Society (UPSACS) to Gorakhpur for their treatment and creating awareness among other jail inmates about HIV.

The prison administration has separated these HIV positive prisoners from others for their treatment within the jail premises. Majority of them who contracted the HIV virus are under-trials. The news has sent shock waves among inmates as well as prison department.  

Confirming the report, the DIG Prison Yadvendra Shukla said that so far 22 prisoners have tested HIV positive on health check-ups conducted on 1500 inmates. At present, about 1800 prisoners are lodged in the Gorakhpur jail. “HIV tests are being conducted on remaining inmates too,” said Shukla.

Doctors from BRD Medical College, who conducted the health check-up in Gorakhpur jail, claimed that the number may go up once all inmates are tested for the HIV. One woman was among 22 prisoners who tested HIV Positive.

Earlier, over 75 people in three villages in Unnao district had tested HIV Positive after a quack doctor had used a single unsterilized syringe to treat them in the past. The quack was later arrested by the Unnao Police. These HIV positive villagers are being treated at Kanpur