MOSCOW, December 27 (RAPSI) – The Russian government has submitted a draft law to the State Duma that would give convicts with the HIV virus equal rights with other prisoners, the government announced Friday.
Currently, unaccompanied HIV-infected convicts in Russia cannot leave prison and women convicts diagnosed with HIV are unable to send their children to children's homes.
The government says the adoption of the federal law will lift a ban on unescorted movement outside correctional institutions.
In 2010, 55,000 of Russia’s 846,000 inmates (6.5 percent) were infected with HIV, according to Avert, an AIDS prevention NGO.
The bill is not the first bid to attempt in Russia to protect the rights of those infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. In April, Russia's Health Ministry reportedly offered to allow individuals infected with HIV or hepatitis to adopt children.
Thanks to progress made in medical science over the last ten years, HIV positive individuals receiving proper medication are usually in good general health and only have to undergo routine treatment.
