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Fact Sheet #2
AIDS in Prison

By Stephen Entwisle
Information specialist, AIDS-Calgary

In Canada, the proportion of individuals living with HIV/AIDS within prison populations is thought to be larger than in the population at large:

  • in December, 1998, 157 inmates out of a total population of 14000 inmates in Corrections Services Canada institutions had been diagnosed as HIV-positive;
  • of these 157, 10 had developed AIDS.

This issue is not a concern only to those in prison situations: the prison population is highly transitory, and as such poses a high risk for exportation of infection into the general population when they leave the prison environment.

Inmates are at exceptional risk for infection with HIV/AIDS because:

  1. they often come from social and economic backgrounds that preclude proper education, prevention and treatment;
  2. they often engage in high-risk behaviours, particularly intravenous drug use, which leads them into criminal behaviour and or the sex trade;
  3. the physical, political, social and economic isolation of prison populations increases the difficulty of addressing the many complex issues of HIV/AIDS and prison populations.

HIV Transmission in Prisons:

Sexual Activity between male inmates is not uncommon in prisons and jails.

Violent Crimes including rape, and other forms of physical assault, present some risks for HIV transmission.

Drug Use: Although imprisoned IDUs do not use drugs with the frequency that they can outside, they do share injection equipment more and sterilise it less because of scarce resources.

Tattooing is widely practiced in prisons, often without sterilised equipment.

Solutions:

Education: such as educational sessions for inmates, staff and administration delivered by community-based AIDS organisations, health or inmate organisations’ peer education, counselling and support programs.

Harm Reduction: such as bleach kits to sterilise needles, methadone to bypass the need for injection by needle and the implementation of needle exchange. There is currently no needle exchange program available in federal correctional institutes in Canada.

Condoms: such as condoms, water-based lubricants and dental dams are available at some but not all federal correctional institutions.

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AIDS Calgary Awareness Association
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Tel: (403) 508-2500, Fax: (403) 263-7358
Web: www.aidscalgary.org
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