Articles

« Poem, In The Moment | Home | A Guide to Sexually Transmitted Diseases: HIV/AIDS »

Fighting HIV in the Prison Population

April 04, 2007

In January, Rep. Barbara Lee (Democrat-California) introduced a bill (H.R. 178) to Congress that would require prisons to provide HIV counseling and prevention education efforts and to distribute sexual barrier protection devices to inmates in federal prison. Many states see condoms as contraband and are ignoring the need to determine groups most affected by HIV/AIDS. Without first acknowledging the problem, strategies cannot be developed to treat HIV and other STDs in prison.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, AIDS prevalence among inmates is triple that in the whole U.S. population. African-American inmates are 3.5 times more likely as Caucasian inmates and 2.5 times more likely as Latino inmates to die from AIDS-related illnesses. Approximately 25% of HIV positive people in the United States pass through correctional facilities each year.

Section II of the Justice Act of 2007 (H.R. 178) highlights the primary issues:

(1) According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), 2,186,230 persons were incarcerated in the United States as of midyear 2005. Between 1995 and midyear 2005, the number of persons incarcerated in Federal or State correctional facilities increased by an average of 3.4 percent per year. One in every 136 United States residents was incarcerated in a Federal, State, or local correctional facility as of midyear 2005.

(2) As of 2001, 64 percent of incarcerated persons were racial or ethnic minorities. Based on current incarceration rates, BJS estimates that 32 percent of African-American males will enter State or Federal correctional facilities during their lifetime, compared with 17 percent of Hispanic males and 5.9 percent of White males.

(3) There is a disproportionately high rate of HIV/AIDS among incarcerated persons, especially among minorities. Approximately 25 percent of the HIV-positive population of the United States passes through correctional facilities each year. BJS determined that the rate of confirmed AIDS cases is 3 times higher among incarcerated persons than in the general population. Minorities account for the majority of AIDS-related deaths among incarcerated persons, with African-American incarcerated persons 3.5 times more likely than White incarcerated persons and 2.5 times more likely than Hispanic incarcerated persons to die from AIDS-related causes.

(4) Studies suggest that other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), such as gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, genital herpes, viral hepatitis, and human papillomavirus, also exist at a higher rate among incarcerated persons than in the general population. For instance, researchers have estimated that the rate of Hepatitis C (HCV) infection among incarcerated persons is somewhere between 8 and 20 times higher than that of the general population.

(5) Correctional facilities lack a uniform system of STI testing and reporting. Establishing a uniform data collection system would assist in developing and targeting counseling and treatment programs for incarcerated persons. Better developed and targeted programs may reduce the spread of STIs.

(6) Although Congress has acted to reduce the spread of sexual violence in correctional facilities by enacting the National Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) of 2003, BJS reported 8,210 allegations of sexual violence in correctional facilities in 2004.

(7) Approximately 95 percent of all incarcerated persons eventually return to society. According to one study, every year approximately 100,000 persons infected with both HIV and HCV are released from correctional facilities. These individuals comprise approximately 50 percent of all persons with both infections in the United States.

(8) According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), latex condoms, when used consistently and correctly, are highly effective in preventing the transmission of HIV. Latex condoms also reduce the risk of other STIs. Despite the effectiveness of condoms in reducing the spread of STIs, the Bureau of Prisons does not recommend their use in correctional facilities.

(9) The distribution of condoms in correctional facilities is currently legal in certain parts of the United States and the world. The States of Vermont and Mississippi and the District of Columbia allow condom distribution programs in their correctional facilities. The cities of New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia also allow condom distribution in their correctional facilities. However, these States and cities operate fewer than 1 percent of all correctional facilities. In one study, researchers found that 18 of 31 countries surveyed allowed condom distribution in correctional facilities.

(10) In 2000 and 2001, researchers surveyed 300 incarcerated persons and 100 correctional officers at the Central Detention Facility, a correctional facility operated by the District of Columbia at which condoms are available. Researchers found that both incarcerated persons and correctional officers generally supported the condom distribution program and considered it to be important. Furthermore, the researchers determined that the program had not caused any major security infractions. In Canada, the Expert Committee on AIDS and Prisons surveyed more than 400 correctional officers in the Federal prison system of Canada in 1995 and reported that 82 percent of those responding indicated that the availability of condoms had created no problems at their facility.

(11) The American Public Health Association, the United Nations Joint Program on HIV/AIDS, and the World Health Organization have endorsed the effectiveness of condom distribution programs in correctional facilities.

(12) Many correctional facilities in the United States do not provide comprehensive testing and treatment programs to reduce the spread of STIs. According to BJS surveys from 2000, only 899 of the 1,668 Federal and State correctional facilities (i.e. 54 percent) provided HIV/AIDS counseling programs. Only 1,104 of the 1,584 State correctional facilities (i.e. 70 percent) reported having a policy of treating incarcerated persons for HCV.

Sources:
Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report – March 08, 2007
For more information on H.R. 178: Library of Congress, Legislative Information: www.thomas.gov

Posted at 11:37 AM by Shantrie in the HIV & AIDS category/ies.