title: HIV, prisoners, and human rights.
abstract: Worldwide, a disproportionate burden of HIV, tuberculosis, and hepatitis is present among current and former prisoners. This problem results from laws, policies, and policing practices that unjustly and discriminatorily detain individuals and fail to ensure continuity of prevention, care, and treatment upon detention, throughout imprisonment, and upon release. These government actions, and the failure to ensure humane prison conditions, constitute violations of human rights to be free of discrimination and cruel and inhuman treatment, to due process of law, and to health. Although interventions to prevent and treat HIV, tuberculosis, hepatitis, and drug dependence have proven successful in prisons and are required by international law, they commonly are not available. Prison health services are often not governed by ministries responsible for national public health programmes, and prison officials are often unwilling to implement effective prevention measures such as needle exchange, condom distribution, and opioid substitution therapy in custodial settings, often based on mistaken ideas about their incompatibility with prison security. In nearly all countries, prisoners face stigma and social marginalisation upon release and frequently are unable to access health and social support services. Reforms in criminal law, policing practices, and justice systems to reduce imprisonment, reforms in the organisation and management of prisons and their health services, and greater investment of resources are needed.
authors.affiliation: Center for Public Health and Human Rights, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA; Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA. Electronic address: lrubenstein@jhu.edu.
authors.forename: Leonard S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Rubenstein
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA; Health and Human Rights Division, Human Rights Watch, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Amon
authors.affiliation: Health and Human Rights Division, Human Rights Watch, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McLemore
authors.affiliation: UNAIDS, Geneva, Switzerland; College of Law and Management Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Eba
authors.affiliation: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dolan
authors.affiliation: Harm Reduction International, London, UK.
authors.forename: Rick
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lines
authors.affiliation: Center for Public Health and Human Rights, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Beyrer
mesh_terms: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003140:Communicable Disease Control / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000379:methods*; D017280:Condoms / Q000600:supply & distribution; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000592:standards; D003416:Criminal Law / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D018562:Disease Transmission, Infectious / Q000517:prevention & control; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000592:standards; D006505:Hepatitis / Q000517:prevention & control; D006806:Human Rights / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000592:standards*; D045809:Human Rights Abuses / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D058850:Opiate Substitution Treatment; D011329:Prisoners / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D011330:Prisons / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D011634:Public Health / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards*; D057545:Social Stigma; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000517:prevention & control
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents