Orissa is planning to launch an AIDS awareness programme in jails across the state after some prisoners have been detected with HIV infection.

The state government is planning to extend its Ashadeep programme, which was launched in Choudwar jail near Cuttack, to other jails in the state, said an official of the state AIDS Cell (SAC) here Friday.

"Under this programme we are educating the prisoners by distributing leaflets and other study material," he said.

There have been reports of gay sexual activity in some jails though they have not been officially confirmed, he said.
 
At least four inmates died of AIDS in Cuttack and Berhampur jails in the past. One HIV infected inmate has been identified at Choudwar jail.

"The number of infected inmates could be higher if we examine all the prisoners," he said.

The inmates under the high-risk group comprise commercial sex workers, truck drivers and migrant labourers, he said.

Orissa has 68 prisons. Some jails house as many as 12,000 prisoners against the capacity of 7,500.
 
The programme is to be launched in Berhampur jail and Jharpada jail in Bhubaneswar, he said. It could be taken to other crowded jails later, he said.

"We have taken measures to avoid sodomy. We have divided the prisoners - both under-trials and convicts - into two groups. The 18 to 25 age group inmates have been kept in one block and the others are in separate blocks."

The state has so far recorded at least 300 HIV infection cases and about 300 AIDS deaths with a majority of them from the southern district of Ganjam, the official said.