Shanghai New Criminal’s Prison has set up a ward that will keep its 117 inmates living with HIV separate from the rest of the prison population, Sixth Tone’s sister publication The Paper reported on Monday.

Liu Tongjiang, the prison spokesman, told Sixth Tone the facility decided to set up their “special ward for criminals with HIV/AIDS” in response to an increasing number of HIV-positive prisoners. Since 2005, the prison has been home to nearly 400 HIV-positive criminals in total. The new department has room for 220 inmates.

Qiu Hengyu, a lawyer at Yingke Law Firm in Beijing, told Sixth Tone that he fears the new ward will lead to discrimination. He said that health information should be kept confidential. “This kind of segregation is telling the public that they are HIV-positive,” Qiu added.

The Ministry of Justice in 2005 issued a notice that allowed for the “concentrated management” of HIV-positive people. According to a 2015 report released by the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Prison Administration, the city’s correctional facilities have faced an unexpected increase in HIV-positive criminals, and have met difficulties when it comes to safety, education, and the professionalism of its personnel.

The prison’s new ward has a dedicated team of 10 people to look after the inmates’ medical needs, and the furniture is made from plastic to prevent the prisoners from scratching themselves. The ward has been painted a light-yellow color, which Liu said will help the prisoners relieve the stress they feel from being incarcerated.

“Looking at the criminals in our custody in recent years, the proportion of men having sex with men leading to HIV infections is increasing,” Liu said. To prevent any sexual activities between inmates, the ward is equipped with 24-hour monitoring.

According to the National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention, China at the end of October 2015 had 575,000 people living with HIV or AIDS. It noted a clear rise in HIV transmissions among men who have sex with men.

Whether or not HIV-positive inmates should be housed apart from the general prison population is a contentious issue. Studies done abroad have shown that segregation has adverse effects, on the one hand leading to human rights violations and discrimination, on the other hand giving a false sense of security that other prisoners are protected from infections, HIV or otherwise. In a 2007 paper on the subject, The World Health Organization calls segregation of HIV-positive prisoners “counterproductive.”

Liu sees mostly positive effects, saying he believes that the ward will help inmates receive the care they are legally entitled to. “[The new ward] will let criminals feel cared for and respected,” he added.

Ye Chengjiang, director of Zhitong Center, an NGO specializing in AIDS education, told Sixth Tone that he sees no need for segregation since HIV isn’t transmissible in daily life. Ye too, fears the measure will lead to discrimination. “If 117 HIV-positive criminals need to be separated,” he said, “why not set up a city to house the 1 million HIV-positive people?”

Additional reporting by Fan Yiying.

(Header image: Prisoners at Tilanqiao Prison hold HIV prevention pamphlets on World AIDS Day in Shanghai, Dec. 1, 2004. Zhao Yun/Sixth Tone)