HIV and AIDS in places of detention: [Новость добавлена - 06.12.2009]

a toolkit for policymakers, programme managers, prison officers and health care providers in prison settings

Produced by: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2008)

In many countries, the groups most vulnerable to HIV are also groups at increased risk of criminalisation and incarceration, as many of the same social and economic conditions that increase vulnerability to HIV also increase vulnerability to imprisonment. This toolkit produced by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime focuses on HIV in prisons and aims to provide information and guidance primarily to individuals and institutions with responsibilities for prisons and prisoners, and to people who work in and with prisons. This toolkit is designed to assist countries in their efforts to mount an effective national response to HIV in prisons and to improve and, if necessary, reform their prison systems. It offers practical guidance on what measures countries need to take in the short term to prevent the spread of HIV (and other infections) among prisoners and to provide them with treatment, care and support. It also provides guidance on the reforms necessary in the medium and longer term to facilitate such measures.

The first module provides essential background information about HIV and explains why and how addressing HIV in prisons is linked to the wider questions of prison reform and to human rights. The document then considers the issues for policymakers, how they can make a difference and priorities for action in module 2. Issues for prison authorities and prison managers are examined in module 3, and the factors which make prisons high risk environments are highlighted. Module 4 looks at the issues for prison staff, HIV prevention in prison, and the important role staff play in this. The final module examines the role of health care staff in prisons; it outlines the international norms and standards guiding health care provision in prison and provides advice on what health care staff can do to help prevent infection.

Available online at: http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/?doc=43402&em=031209&sub=man