( CNN ) -- One of the two U.S. states that separates its HIV-infected inmates from its general prison population says it plans to stop doing so . The South Carolina Department of Corrections said Wednesday it intends to stop housing its HIV-positive inmates in facilities separate from the rest of its prisoners , as it has done since 1998 . The state currently houses 366 HIV-positive inmates at two different institutions in Columbia . No date for the policy change is set , but officials hope it will happen in the next six months , department spokesman Clark Newsom said . `` Our medical staff has examined all the facets of this issue , and we believe it is safe to make a change in our current policy , '' department Director William Byars Jr. said . Alabama also separates its HIV-positive inmates from the rest of its prisoners , though a federal judge ordered it to end the practice in December following a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union . Litigation in that case continues . Mississippi dropped a similar policy in 2010 . The ACLU , which has campaigned to end such policies , hailed South Carolina 's decision . `` Ending a long outdated policy that stigmatized human beings and ignored modern medical information is a tremendous victory for human rights , '' Susan K. Dunn , legal director of the ACLU of South Carolina , said in a news release . `` While the segregation of HIV-positive prisoners has long been an unnecessary and ineffective tool for preventing the transmission of HIV , it has had the profound effect of humiliating and isolating prisoners living with the disease . '' Patients not HIV-free for now after transplant .
South Carolina officials plan to end the policy within six months . The state has separated HIV - positive patients from other prisoners since 2003 . Alabama has similar policy ; a judge ordered it to end , but it continues . ACLU of South Carolina : The state 's move is ` ` a tremendous victory for human rights ''