Prisons need needle exchange programs (CBC)
Prisons need needle exchange programs
Prisons need needle exchange programs
See Also:
Prison Needle Exchange: Lessons from a Comprehensive Review of International Evidence and Experience
Why is Canada Lagging Behind
in Establishing Needle Exchange Programs in Prisons?
Last Updated Wed, 27 Oct 2004 11:05:22 EDT
OTTAWA - One of the largest doctors organizations in Canada on Tuesday called for needle exchange programs in prisons and jails across the country.
The Ontario Medical Association made the call as the HIV/AIDS Legal Network, an international think-tank, released a comprehensive report on HIV and other injection drug-related infections among prisoners, including hepatitis C.
The general population is put at risk when infected prisoners are released from jail, said John Rapin, OMA president.
"The frequent movement of individuals between prisons and the community means that any transmission of the disease within prisons will increase the risk of disease transmission in the community," he said.
The OMA says the HIV infection rate among prisoners is 10 times higher than in the general population. Hepatitis C is 29 times more prevalent behind bars than in the general population.
"These folks are going to ... go on injecting, but they have sexual partners who they are quite capable of infecting with both hepatitis C and HIV, so this should be regarded as a major public health issue," said Dr. Peter Ford, an AIDS expert who has worked in federal prisons for almost 20 years.
IN a new position paper called Improving Our Health: Why is Canada lagging behind in establishing needle exchange programs in prisons?, the OMA says Needle exchanges should be set up in Canadian penal institutions within 18 months.
The doctors are backed up in their call by the HIV/AIDS Legal Network, which on Wednesday released Prison Needle Exchange: Lessons From a Comprehensive Review of International Evidence and Experience.
The report was compiled over two years, and looks at needle exchange programs in six European countries.
The report finds that the programs reduced the sharing of dirty syringes and home-made injection equipment among inmates, which in turn reduced the spread of disease. There was also a reduction in drug overdoses.
The report found no evidence that such programs increase drug use or endangered staff, who feared these syringes could be used as weapons.
"When it was initiated several years ago, the staff were very fearful about the program," said Rick Lines, of the Irish Penal Reform Group, recalling what happened when needle exchanges were set up in Ireland's prisons.
"But six or seven years later, when they saw the safety benefits, they were the ones lobbying the government to maintain the program, not cancel it," he said.
The Ontario doctors group is expected to call on governments to start pilot projects immediately, the first time a provincial doctors group has taken such a stand.
The push for needle exchange programs in prison is not new. Exchange programs have been in place in several Canadian cities since the late 1980s, and are regarded as an important tool in controlling the spread of AIDS and hepatitis C.
Five years ago a committee set up by the Correctional Service of Canada recommended a program, but the recommendation was shelved.
Written by CBC News Online staff
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Governments urged to start prison needle exchanges
Governments urged to start prison needle exchanges
Governments urged to start prison needle exchanges
By DARREN YOURK
Globe and Mail Update
Globe and Mail
Federal and provincial governments were called on Wednesday to establish needle-exchange programs in Canadian prisons to combat escalating rates of HIV and hepatitis C among prisoners.
The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) both spoke out on the issue, warning that the general population is being put at risk when prisoners infected with blood borne illnesses are released from jail.
"Prisoners come from the community and most return to it," Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network executive director Ralf Jurgens said in a release. "What is done – or not done – in prisons with regard to HIV/AIDS, hepatitis and drug use therefore has an impact on the health of all Canadians."
The OMA released a position paper on the issue Wednesday, saying that recent statistics – showing that the rate of HIV infection among prisoners is 10 times higher than the general population and 29 times higher for hepatitis C – prove that programs to prevent disease transmission in prisons are not working.
"The frequent movement of individuals between prisons and the community means that any transmission of disease within prisons will increase the risk of disease transmission in the community," said Dr. John Rapin, president of the OMA. "We should all be concerned about disease spreading through our prison systems because we are at risk."
Both organizations suggest that all levels of government work together to launch needle-exchange programs in prisons.
The OMA says more than 50 needle-exchange programs have been successfully implemented around the world and extensive research shows that syringe exchange does not pose any safety concerns to either prison staff or prisoners nor does it lead to an increase in intravenous drug use among prisoners.
"In light of this evidence," Mr. Jurgens said, "there no longer are any good reasons to deny prisoners who inject drugs access to clean needles. This does not condone their drug use.
"Rather, it is a pragmatic public health measure that should accompany other efforts to reduce harms related to drug use, such as drug-treatment programs, including methadone maintenance."
Globe and Mail
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