Over 300 inmates screened for HIV in Shravasti district jail awareness drive

A comprehensive HIV/AIDS awareness and testing camp was organised at the district jail in Shravasti as part of an intensive awareness campaign being conducted across the district, where a total of 306 prisoners underwent screening for various infections. The event emphasised that complete and accurate information remains the only safeguard against HIV/AIDS.

The awareness seminar and testing camp was held at the district jail located at Bhinga headquarters on Saturday, focusing on educating inmates about HIV/AIDS while simultaneously conducting medical examinations. The camp was organised under the chairmanship of Jail Superintendent Rajkumar ji, who addressed the prisoners during the event.

While speaking to the inmates, the Jail Superintendent explained that HIV/AIDS is a serious infectious disease which has treatment available but no cure. He stated that an HIV-infected person can live a complete life through proper treatment and healthy diet. Counsellor Jitendra Mishra informed the prisoners that an HIV-infected person has the right to equal opportunities, the right to health, the right to home, property and inheritance, the right to education, and the right to employment in all government and non-government institutions. He further clarified that any discrimination against a person on the grounds of being HIV-infected constitutes a punishable offence under the Act 2017.

Jail Pharmacist Ashok Pandey reported that a total of 298 male and 8 female prisoners were tested for HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B and C, and were also screened for tuberculosis during the camp. The intensive awareness campaign being conducted in the district aims to spread information about HIV/AIDS among various sections of society.

Present on the occasion were Jailer Awdhesh Prasad Rai, DPC Ravi Mishra, DPTC Sandeep Singh, jail coordinators Shrikant Shukla, Gulam Mustafa, Sneha Tiwari, Anupam Srivastava, Anoop Kumar and Devi Prasad.