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| Health experts look to prisons to help stem the spread of AIDS |
| By Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |
| Published: 02/16/2004 |
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One in six Americans infected with HIV is behind bars, making jails and prisons important places to stop the spread of AIDS and big providers of health care to people who have it, researchers report. Studies on HIV among prisoners were presented last Tuesday at the 11th annual Retrovirus Conference, the chief U.S. scientific meeting on AIDS. Prison populations are at an all-time high, and more than half the inmates are drug offenders, a group with a high prevalence of AIDS. The most recent U.S. Department of Justice report says that more than 2 million Americans are in jails or prisons and that more than 10 million pass through the system each day. HIV infection is a risk not just when inmates are incarcerated but also when they're released. About 11 million Americans are released each year and studies show that most have sex within a day of leaving, making it critically important to counsel them about safe sex, Joe Bick, a California Department of Corrections official, told the conference. "Theoretically, we can reduce the spread of disease in the community once inmates are released," he said. But first, officials have to find the prisoners who have the virus. Many don't know they do, and those who are aware they're infected often don't disclose it because they fear repercussions in prison, Bick said. Confidential testing is offered to all inmates, but many refuse because they think a blood or urine sample will be tested for drugs or DNA evidence, Bick said. |
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