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HIV, prisoners, and human rights
Journal article   Peer reviewed

HIV, prisoners, and human rights

Leonard S Rubenstein, Joseph J Amon, Megan McLemore, Patrick Eba, Kate Dolan, Rick Lines and Chris Beyrer
The Lancet (British edition), v 388(10050), pp 1202-1214
17 Sep 2016
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)30663-8
PMID: 27427457
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel

Abstract

Anti-HIV Agents - therapeutic use Communicable Disease Control - legislation & jurisprudence Communicable Disease Control - methods Condoms - supply & distribution Continuity of Patient Care - standards Criminal Law - standards Criminal Law - trends Disease Transmission, Infectious - prevention & control Health Services Accessibility - standards Hepatitis - prevention & control HIV Infections - diagnosis HIV Infections - epidemiology HIV Infections - prevention & control HIV Infections - transmission Human Rights - legislation & jurisprudence Human Rights - standards Human Rights Abuses - legislation & jurisprudence Human Rights Abuses - prevention & control Humans Opiate Substitution Treatment Prisoners - legislation & jurisprudence Prisons - legislation & jurisprudence Prisons - organization & administration Prisons - standards Public Health - legislation & jurisprudence Public Health - standards Social Stigma Substance-Related Disorders - epidemiology Substance-Related Disorders - prevention & control Tuberculosis - prevention & control
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.

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59 citations in Web of Science
69 citations in Scopus

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
#3 Good Health and Well-Being

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Domestic collaboration
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Web of Science research areas
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
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