In Russian prisons, the scale of tuberculosis, HIV and syphilis incidence is close to an epidemic

Just under half — 340,000 out of 846,000 convicts in Russian correctional facilities suffer from some kind of disease, Deputy Head of the Federal Penitentiary Service Nikolai Krivolapov announced on Tuesday at a press conference at RIA Novosti.
“The picture remains horrifying, although there is no increase in morbidity compared to last year. Currently, 340,000 convicts in Russian correctional facilities suffer from various forms of diseases,” Krivolapov said.
He explained that, in particular, 15,000 are ill with syphilis, 40,000 have active tuberculosis, 67,000 have mental disorders, and 55,000 are HIV-positive.
Krivolapov noted that despite the heatwave spreading across almost the entire territory of the Russian Federation, the temperature in prisoners’ cells does not exceed the norm.
“Basically, the walls of the facilities have a thickness of up to one and a half metres, and they keep cool well. In those areas where there is a need for additional efforts to maintain the temperature, air conditioners are installed. However, of course, it is impossible to install air conditioners in all facilities due to a lack of funds,” Krivolapov said.
He also reported that the maintenance of one convict costs the state 33,000 roubles annually, of which 19,800 is spent on food, less than 2,000 on medicine, and about 7,000 on utility costs.