BJS
202/307-0784
HIV RATES IN NATION?S? PRISONS REMAIN STABLE
AIDS-RELATED DEATHS AMONG PRISONERS DROP SHARPLY
WASHINGTON,
D.C. ? Between 1995 and 1999 the percent of the nation's prison inmates known
to be infected with the human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV) has fluctuated
between 2.3 percent and 2.1 percent, the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice
Statistics (BJS) announced today.? At
the end of 1999 there were 25,757 HIV-infected inmates nationwide?24,607 state
inmates and 1,150 federal prisoners among a total of 1,283,902 prisoners in
custody.
The number of
AIDS-related deaths has decreased sharply since reaching a peak of 1,010 in
1995:
Year???????????????? Number??????????????????????? Rate per 100,000
state inmates
1995
?????????????? 1,010???????????????????????? ? ???????????????????100???
1996??????? ??????? ???907?????????????????? ??????????????????? ?????????90
1997?????????????????? 538
48
1998?????????????????? 350
30
1999?????????????????? 242??????????????????????? ????????????????????????20
During 1999,
the Northeast had the highest rate of HIV/AIDS cases among state prisoners ?(6.0 percent), followed by the South (2.2
percent), the Midwest (1.0 percent) and the West (0.9 percent).
HIV-infected
prisoners were concentrated in a few states: New York (7,000), Florida (2,633),
Texas (2,520) and California (1,570).
Together these states held 56 percent of the infected state inmates.? The highest HIV infection rates were in New
York (9.7 percent), followed by the District of Columbia (7.8 percent) and
Rhode Island (6.9 percent).
States with the
lowest HIV/AIDS case rates included Oregon, South Dakota and North Dakota (all
with 0.2 percent); West Virginia (0.3 percent); Idaho and Iowa (0.4 percent).
??????????? In state prisons 27 percent of the
HIV-infected prisoners had confirmed AIDS.
In federal prisons 37 percent of HIV-positive inmates had AIDS.? The overall rate of confirmed AIDS cases in
state and federal prisons (0.60 percent) was five times the rate in the general
U.S. population (0.12 percent).
The rate of HIV
infection in state prisons was higher among female inmates than among male
inmates in all regions and in most states.
Overall, 2.1 percent of male inmates and 3.4 percent of female inmates
were known to be HIV positive.
Among federal
prisoners, 431 of the 1,150 inmates known to be HIV positive had confirmed
AIDS.? During 1999, 16 federal inmates
died from AIDS-related causes, representing 6 percent of all prisoners who died
in a federal prison.??
Between July 1,
1998, and June 30, 1999, 78 jail inmates died from AIDS-related causes (13 per
100,000 inmates) and 1 in 12 jail inmate deaths were AIDS-related.? Florida jails reported the largest number of
AIDS deaths: 15.? Jails in New York and
Georgia had 11.
On June 30,
1999 there were 8,615 local jail inmates known to be HIV positive, or 1.7
percent of all jail inmates.? Jails are
locally operated corrections facilities that confine people before or after
adjudication.? Jail inmates are normally
sentenced to incarceration for one year or less.? The HIV infection rate was highest among the largest jail
jurisdictions.? Almost half of all
HIV-infected jail inmates were housed in 43 of the 50 largest jurisdictions.? Four of the largest jurisdictions reported
more than 5 percent of their inmate population HIV positive.? Palm Beach County, Florida, had the highest
rate of infection (10.6 percent), followed by New York City (7.1 percent), King
County, Washington, (5.8 percent) and Essex County, New Jersey (5.2 percent).
The report,
"HIV in Prisons and Jails, 1999" (NCJ-187456), was written by BJS
statistician Laura M. Maruschak.
The BJS Internet site is: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/
Additional
criminal justice materials can be obtained from the Office of Justice Programs
homepage at: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/
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BJS01158
After hours contact: Stu Smith at
301/983-9354