Ramsey wants HIV/AIDS testing to be mandatory
Sir Prince Ramsey, Clinical Care Co-ordinator for HIV/AIDS in Antigua, is calling for mandatory HIV testing for people entering the prison system, pregnant women, sex workers and police recruits.{{more}}
These groups, he said, should be targeted in an effort to protect them and others from the spread of the HIV virus.
He told the Daily Observer on the weekend, prisoners should be isolated before they are placed in the general prison population until their results are in.
âYou get a test on the day you arrive and if six weeks after, your results still show negative, then you go into the general population. If you are positive, you should be isolated ⦠be with other HIV patients.â
He said, âOnce you have an all-male institution, there will be homosexual activities and although a man may not be a homosexual he may be forced into it. He may be raped or he may rape someone with HIV and he becomes positive.â
He however stated that he does not support homosexuality. The doctor noted that it would be wiser to distribute condoms in prison or do the mandatory HIV/AIDS test followed by the necessary action based on the inmateâs test result instead of doing nothing, because many prisoners have to return to society.
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