In this issue contributors examine surveillance and management of STIs, BBVs and other health issues in Australian correctional facilities, identifying current successes and gaps - particularly in relation to communities that are dispoportionately affected.

Browse articles below or download as a PDF (1.65 MB)

News and commentary

News from the 18th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2011)

HIV and prisons

A view from the inside: HIV support and treatment in prison PHILLIP READ and JENNY DOUGLAS discuss some of the challenges experienced by HIV-positive prisoners and profile HIV services available to people in custody in NSW

Prison sex. Don’t believe what you see on TV BASIL DONOVAN, JULIET RICHTERS and TONY BUTLER present a summary of new research dispelling some myths about the sexual culture that exists within prisons

Prisons, injecting drug use and blood borne viruses: continuing challenges LORANA BARTELS examines injecting drug use and the transmission of HIV and other blood borne viruses in Australian prisons, finding a need for more specialist interventions

Australian prisons: the key to closing the gap and ensuring HIV remains low in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities MARY ELLEN HARROD, JAMES WARD, SIMON GRAHAM and TONY BUTLER argue that culturally appropriate services for Indigenous prisoners are vital

‘I have good life here’: a Vietnamese man’s journey to access services ELIZABETH CROCK, TALITHA WALKLATE and SERGE SZTRAJT recount the story of an HIV-positive refugee who, despite multiple disadvantages, is able to find support

Health care in custody: state fails its duty of care ALEXANDRA STRATIGOS and IAIN STEWART BRADY call for greater measures to protect the health of HIV-positive people in custody

Can regulation prevent hepatitis C transmission in prisons? JACK WALLACE finds ‘a plethora of guidelines’ but says that this is not enough

From the inside out: injecting drug use in the Australian prison system JAMES MAY interviews two people with first-hand experience of injecting drug use in the prison setting and discusses the importance of harm-minimisation

Women in NSW prisons and hepatitis C: towards a more gendered approach? KAT ARMSTRONG and LINDA STEELE highlight research indicating that female inmates in NSW are disproportionately affected by hepatitis C, advocating for a response acknowledging this gender disparity

Navigating complex pathways: people with mental health disorders and cognitive disability in the criminal justice system in NSW EILEEN BALDRY reports on initial findings from a research project examining the reasons why people with mental health and/or cognitive disability get trapped in the criminal justice system

Regulars

Regional Feature: Using animation to confront stigma, discrimination and low perceptions of personal risk to HIV/AIDS in Chiang Mai, Thailand By CHRISTOPHER S WALSH

Web Watch: The Australian Prisons Project

Book review: Making Waves: Medicine, Public Health, Universities and Beyond Jennifer Power reviews David Pennington’s autobiography