NCJ Number
122020
Journal
AIDS Information Exchange Volume: 6 Issue: 4 Dated: (June 1989) Pages: complete issue
Date Published
1989
Length
13 pages
Annotation
The key elements of the Philadelphia AIDS Activities Coordinating Office's prison AIDS project include: staff training, inmate education, condom distribution, voluntary HIV testing and counseling, and treatment services for inmates with AIDS and HIV infection.
Abstract
All newly hired correctional staff receive a three-hour AIDS training program during their 6-8 week academy training, and new supervisors receive further education to enable them to respond to staff questions about AIDS. Currently three AIDS educators provide "AIDS 101" presentations to residents of the five Philadelphia jails, providing information for the inmates that is specific to their environment such as the potential for contact with infected blood when sharing razor blades. The policy that initially met with the most hostility and generated the greatest controversy was the proposed distribution of condoms in the jails. Chief among the problems in setting up a voluntary HIV testing program was the issue of confidentiality; policy protects the confidentiality of inmates' HIV status by not sharing that information with the prison authorities.