Despite these caveats, calls for segregation are becoming more popular among public officials. This time, they bolster their arguments with the fact that early treatment saves lives. As the debate wears on, prison advocates, corrections departments, and state legislatures will continue to grapple with the thorny issues of mandatory testing and confidentiality raised by any model that seeks to identify and segregate HIV-positive prisoners. Just to have somebody watching makes a huge difference. They get away with it because they can.
Supporters say so, but so far no studies have proved it.
Even with better data, experts agree that the key to fighting HIV isn't segregation. Many test negative during the window period of early infection and enter the general population with a false sense of security. Segregated programs reduce rates of seroconversion. If that is positive, a Western Blot test is done. But it's possible that the inmate will be released before testing is completed, so there's no way of knowing how many prisoners seroconvert while on the inside.