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| AIDS crisis in pen |
| By The Winnipeg Sun |
| Published: 12/08/2003 |
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Some inmates coming into prison for the first time still think they can catch the HIV virus or AIDS from sharing fitness equipment. "There's still a lot of unknown questions for a lot of guys," said prisoner Ryerson Stierman, chairman of the Stony Mountain inmate health awareness committee. "Even though everybody should know about AIDS, lets be honest -- not everybody does." Stierman, who's serving a seven-year sentence for credit-card fraud and property-related offences, organized a candlelight vigil at the prison last week to recognize World AIDS Day. He said the disease is an epidemic within the Canadian corrections system and he's trying to educate inmates about the deadly illness. Every prisoner who enters the system must participate in a program called Choosing Health In Prison, designed to teach them about safe drug use, safe sex and safe tattooing. At any given time, between six and 12 of the 400 inmates at Stony Mountain have been diagnosed with HIV or AIDS. Stierman said tattooing inside the prison and sharing of needles for drug use are the two main contributors to the spread of the disease. He hopes to one day see a needle exchange program for drug users -- as well as a small tattoo parlour, run by an artist or two paid by the prison. Stierman said inmates could save up their canteen money or earnings and buy their tattoos from a clean, monitored facility -- instead of relying on dirty needles and backroom dealings, as they do now. The HIV-AIDS epidemic continues to rage on in Canada with a record 56,000 people infected. The sobering statistic marks a 12% jump in cases since 1999, says Health Canada's sixth annual report on HIV-AIDS which was released last week to coincide with AIDS day. The infection rate among aboriginals grew by a startling 26.5% in the first six months of 2002 -- more than six times faster than the rate among non-aboriginals, said Garry Carbonnell, president of the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network. Ottawa marked the day by announcing $100 million over five years to fight the disease in Africa, where it kills millions. The World Health Organization and UNAIDS pledged cheaper drugs, simpler treatment regimens and more money in a campaign to provide three million HIV-infected people with the latest drugs available by the end of 2005 in a $5.5-billion US effort. |
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