Prison ARV ruling to be honoured - Government

he South African government has agreed to respect a High Court ruling compelling it to provide antiretroviral (ARV) treatment to inmates at Westville Prison in the port city of Durban.

Compliance followed the rejection of an appeal by the correctional services department for the court to set aside an interim order compelling it to act on the decision that ARVs be provided to HIV-positive prisoners by 8 September 2006.

Noting that the appeal against the judgment had been made "in good faith and did not represent a defiant action", government spokesperson Themba Maseko said plans were already underway to treat HIV-positive offenders at the facility.

"An application was lodged to accredit the Durban-Westville correctional facility as a site to administer ARV treatment. This accreditation would be finalised shortly," Maseko said in a statement.

Grootvlei Prison in Free State Province has the only accredited prison-based AIDS treatment site in South Africa. Inmates at the country's other 240 facilities are still taken under strict security for treatment at local hospitals.

This item is delivered to the English Service of the United Nations' Humanitarian Information Service but, may not necessarily reflect the views of the UN.