HIV is becoming more and more of a problem in prisons because it spreads so swiftly, but there are many methods to stop the spread of this disease, as the World Aids Conference heard.

According to the UN office of Drugs and Crime, the prevalence of HIV among inmates is much higher than that of the general population. Many factors lead to this problem including overcrowding, tattooing, drug use, sex between prisoners, poor access to condoms and HIV counselling, just to name a few. In some countries, there are no health screenings done in prisons whatsoever, so these inmates do not even know that they are infected. In Zambia, for example, there are only 14 health workers attending to 15 300 prisoners, mainly distributing paracetamol.

Overcrowding is known to have a negative effect on prisoners, a climate of violence arises and this leads to the spread of HIV and Aids. The lack of education and information that the prisoners receive could further spread disease. Many inmates crave some sort of drug – sharing needles, be it for injecting drugs or tattooing, is one of the major causes of infection with HIV. The last, but probably the most important factor contributing to spreading HIV is non-consensual sex. Sex in prisons mostly has to do with power and dominance, not with sexual pleasure. Gang rape is an ongoing problem in jails because of the hierarchical and violent environment.

Obstacles preventing those infected from going for treatment include a lack of transport, decisions of the officers and fear. Considering that HIV is doubly prevalent in jails, as opposed to general society, something has got to change. In another African country, Nigeria, campaigners are not allowed to hand out condoms in detention facilities because apparently it promotes sodomy. Recently, an information and education campaign for inmates and guards has been developed for the Nigerian prison system.

The UN office of Drugs and Crime chose the Aids forum to launch a toolkit to equip government with ways of introducing HIV prevention and treatment in prisons. They insisted that healthcare in prisons need to be equivalent to that of healthcare in the community. Prevention programmes seem to be effective, but some problems still arise, like in the case of a relapse once a prisoner is released. “This is not just about prisoners, it’s about the communities they return to”, said Samuel Dickman, who conducted the investigation regarding the prevention programmes.

Share this post