Socio-economic characteristics of HIV in a South African prison

Abstract

South Africa has placed increased importance on addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic and has identified people in prisons as one of several high risk groups. Despite this emphasis, respective departments have not pursued the task of data collection at all vigorously. A sample of 274 volunteer inmates was drawn from the Westville Maximum Security Prison, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal Province. A probit model was used and the data analysed to establish statistically significant risk factors for transmission of HIV and importantly the characteristics of those who are infected or not infected by HIV. The study found that sero-prevalence rates were significantly higher than the general population, and that the two socio-economic factors correlating to HIV/AIDS were ethnicity and age.