Dr Abiye Kalaiwo, the Programme Manager, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) says the organisation will begin preventive intervention programme on HIV prevalence in Nigerian prisons by September this year.

Kalaiwo told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja that USAID had prisons in Bauchi, Niger, Adamawa and Bayelsa as its targets.

He said that the intervention was in line with the war to reduce the spread of HIV infection in the country, especially among key population.

He added that “we have already commenced the preventive intervention programme in Lagos, Akwa Ibom and Cross River among prison inmates.”

The USAID official identified anal sex, drug injection and inadequate information as major reasons for HIV prevalence among prison inmates.

He explained that the agency would carry out thorough sensitisation of inmates on ways of preventing infection, which he said was abstinence and use of condom.

According to him, prison inmates should be made to understand the risks of anal sex and unprotected sex to curtail the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Study by UN Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) reveals that gays, displaced persons and prison inmates are responsible for new HIV infections globally. (NAN)