NCJ Number
161581
Journal
Keepers' Voice Volume: 17 Issue: 1 Dated: (Winter 1996) Pages: 17-22
Date Published
1996
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Nearly 15 years into the HIV/AIDS epidemic, not enough is being done worldwide to prevent the transmission of HIV infection or AIDS.
Abstract
It is well known and documented that both sexual activity and drug use occur in prisons; both of these activities provide high-risk conditions for the transmission of HIV. Many prison systems, however, including the vast majority of prisons systems in the United States, do not provide inmates with the means necessary to protect themselves from contracting HIV infection. For inmates with HIV infection or AIDS, the quality of medical care available in prisons is often not equivalent to that available outside, and there is a higher risk of contracting other infections, tuberculosis in particular. Discrimination, breaches of medical confidentiality, and segregation are widespread. This situation persists although international recommendations on HIV/AIDS and drug use in prisons are consistent in favoring "equivalence of treatment of prisoners," meaning that the same standards of health care and protection that apply outside of prisons should also apply to inmates. These recommendations emphasize the importance of the prevention of transmission of HIV in prisons; they suggest that condoms and clean needles or bleach should be available to inmates. Also, many of the problems for correctional health care and particularly the high prevalence of HIV in prisons, result from drug laws that prohibit drug use or possession and force many drug users to adopt a life of crime and imprisonment. The World Health Organizations has recommended that governments review their penal admission policies regarding drug abusers, given the AIDS epidemic and its impact on prisons. 39 notes