Prisoner Study Backs Up A.i.d.s. Fears (Press, 19 June 1989)

A study conducted in South Australia has highlighted serious concerns regarding the potential for prisons to become incubators of AIDS, revealing that up to 44 per cent of prisoners are at least occasional intravenous drug users. The findings were published in the Medical Journal of Australia and indicate that about a third of prisoners are considered at risk of spreading HIV, with 34 per cent reporting occasional anal sex. The research focused on inmates at the Yatala Labour Prison and uncovered that between 5 per cent to 18 per cent were involved in both intravenous drug use and anal sex, which are significant risk factors for the transmission of HIV. Gathering data from estimates provided by inmates and prison staff, the researchers noted alarming practices around the sharing of needles, stating that fewer than five needles were available for intravenous drug users in each division of the prison. The study has prompted calls for urgent action to prevent a potential outbreak of HIV within prisons, which could have broader implications for public health. At the time of the survey, only one prisoner was confirmed to be infected with HIV, although the infection status of roughly a quarter of the inmates remained unknown. This has raised further concerns regarding the hidden presence of the virus in the prison population. Global health authorities are increasingly worried that prisons could serve as reservoirs for AIDS, with the risk of the infection spreading to the outside community. The prevalence of HIV infection among prisoners varies widely, with rates in U.S. and European prisons reported at less than 1 per cent to more than 25 per cent, and in some specific groups, as high as 60 per cent. The study was carried out by a collaborative team from the Australian National University, the South Australian Health Commission, the Royal Adelaide Hospital, and the South Australian Prisons Medical Service. The researchers emphasised the importance of addressing the risk factors identified in the study to mitigate the potential for HIV transmission within prison settings and beyond.

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