InterPress News Service (IPS); Tuesday, July 01, 1997

"The acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is spreading at a faster rate in prisons throughout the world than in the general population," Somar Wijayadasa of UNAIDS, a joint U.N. program battling the devastating disease, said today.

"The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the primary source of the disease, has been found in prisons in most countries of the world," according to a new UNAIDS report. "This should be a source of the utmost concern not only for prisoners and prison staff, but also for society in general."

Wijayadasa said the spread of the disease in prisons has been accelerated not only by unprotected sex but also by rape, drug use, shared needles, blood brotherhood rites, overcrowding and the lack of education, information and medical care.

HIV prevalence in French prisons is about 10 times that of the general population, while the prevalence of tuberculosis (TB) is three times the national average, according to UNAIDS. In south- eastern France, 12.7 percent of prisoners tested HIV positive in a 1994-1995 survey.

In Santa Fe province, Argentina, between 11.3 percent and 14 percent of all prisoners tested HIV positive in 1995. In a survey conducted in the United States in 1994, there were 5.2 cases of AIDS per 1,000 prisoners, almost six times the rate in the general adult population.

"The prison population is not eternally sealed off, but is constantly changing, with people going in and out," says the study.

Unprotected sex between men is an important factor for HIV transmission among prison inmates. A 1993 survey in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, revealed that 73 percent of male prisoners had sex with other men in prison.

In New South Wales, Australia, eight percent of the prisoners admitted having unprotected sex. "As with other self-reported findings, the true figure is likely to be higher," says UNAIDS.

Apart from consensual sex, male rape is not uncommon in prison, says the study. Given that force will be used, and that condoms will almost certainly not be employed, the risks of HIV transmission are high.

A second major factor for the rise in AIDS in prisons is the indiscriminate use of drugs. "Drug injecting with shared, non-sterile equipment is the factor probably accounting for the greatest number of new HIV cases in prisons worldwide," according to the report.

In Lower Saxony, Germany, a survey in women's prisons showed about a third of those sampled were injecting drug users, many continuing their habit in prison. Of those injecting, 4.9 percent were infected with HIV, as against 0.5 percent of the non-injectors.

In Central Prison in Lisbon, Portugal, a survey of 1,442 prisoners during 1994-1996 found 63 percent to be drug dependent and potentially in need of treatment.

In 1994, Switzerland launched a one-year experiment to provide sterile needles at the Hindelbank women's prisons. At the end of the first year of the project's operation, there were no new cases of HIV or hepatitis in the prison and prisoners health had, in fact, improved. Furthermore, there was a significant decrease in needle sharing, and there was no evidence of an increase in drug consumption and needles had not been used as weapons, according to the UNAIDS report.

Recognizing the fact that sexual contact does occur in prisons, UNAIDS says it believes it vital that condoms, together with lubricant, should be readily available to prisoners. This should be done either using dispensing machines or supplies in the prison medical service.

Unfortunately, says UNAIDS, there still exist a strong current of denial in many places about male-to-male sex, especially in prison, and a corresponding refusal to do anything which might be seen as condoning it.

"These attitudes will have to change if societies want to see a decrease in the rate of HIV infection inside prisons and outside.

UNAIDS has also urged prisons to provide liquid household bleach, and instructions as to its correct use for sterilizing needles and syringes, as well as setting up needle exchange programs, whereby a used needle is exchanged free for a sterile one.

UNAIDS estimates there are about 20 million people living with the HIV virus throughout the world, and around six million people have already died of AIDS.

UNAIDS, created in January 1996, spearheads a U.N. program co-sponsored by six organizations: the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF), the U.N. Development Program (UNDP), the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank.

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