HIV is a daily challenge to the corrections officers because of the nature of their work and the interaction with offenders in the system, says the Commissioner of Corrections Lieutenant-Colonel Ifereimi Vasu. He made the comments while opening a two-day HIV workshop for corrections officers yesterday.
He said there were 1540 inmates in custody.
"That is the challenge for us. Recently, we have experienced the challenge of mental cases within our institutions including a few inmates affected by HIV," Lt-Col Vasu said.
"Hopefully, this two-day workshop will be a success and will help us in our work. We do not want to discriminate against those affected by HIV."
Lt-Col Vasu said FCS wants to offer its support to those who had unfortunately contracted the disease and minimise the spread of HIV in Fiji.
Director International Labour Organisation David Lamotte said the FCS had the potential to be a role model for other organisations in the public and private sector in terms of planning a HIV work policy.
FCS spokeswoman Ana Tudrau-Tamani said the workshop aimed to identify areas of co-operation to formulate and implement a HIV workplace program.