HIV testing in state prisons should be offered but not forced, say two medical experts in an editorial in North Carolina’s The News & Observer (newsobserver.com, 4/23).
David A. Wohl, MD, associate professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina Division of Infectious Diseases and codirector of HIV Services for the state Department of Correction, and David Rosen, PhD, of the UNC School of Medicine, say that the dual epidemics of imprisonment and HIV in the country contribute to higher rates of HIV among prisoners than the general population.
“In response, some advocate for mandatory HIV testing of prisoners,” write Wohl and Rosen. “However, the solution to the HIV epidemic is not mandatory HIV testing of inmates.”
They say forcing individuals to be tested “deprives that person of a basic autonomy that should not be lost with incarceration.” Also, the experts say that forced testing could be dangerously stigmatizing in prison settings.
Wohl and Rosen say that, instead, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s general HIV testing guidelines should be offered in prisons, with testing offered to everyone who participates in medical care.
“The CDC testing strategy respects the magnitude of the threat of undiagnosed HIV infection but also the right of an individual to make an informed decision regarding whether to be tested,” they write. “The soundness of these recommendations does not stop at the prison gate, and they should be adopted for all [people in the state of North Carolina], incarcerated and free.”
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Ann, n/a, 2008-05-14 17:43:28
Patricia, I am sorry but giving inmates access to condoms in prison is an accident waiting to happen. Sex in prison is a big NO and as one person stated its like a screen door on a submarine.Education and treatment is the key. Shout it from the roof tops, but do not give a bunch of loaded guns out. Some of these folks and not just the guys, are in here for singing to loud in church. There are preditors & sex offenders in here.
Patricia, Kalamazoo, 2008-05-12 11:54:50
Michigan has recently passed a bill for mandatory HIV/Hep C testing upon release yet did not fund this so it is basically in limbo. The solution to HIV epidemic anywhere is treatment!! Those who are poz, when treated are at less risk to transmit. Condoms in prisons are a must! The culture of the outside world likes to categorize the sexual activity in prisons as "rape" but it is a pervasive culture of men having sex with other men and all should be allowed to have access to condoms/treatment.
Ann, n/a, 2008-05-04 09:07:41
Why dioes every one asume that rape is very large. I bet if you look there is more assult and battery than rape. What do you mean by educate if needed? Everyone needs to be educated Michael. We at intake then we repeat and we test again at exit. We test ever 6 months if they request it. Yes rape happens but not like everyone is thinking it does. It's like saying you have aids cause your gay. No I dont think so. Sterotypeing, no thats wrong. Just remember EDUCATON in the key for all!
Michael, Haslett, 2008-05-01 14:37:41
I think that the testing should be manatory for all incoming prisoners, and those who test positive should then be given education if needed so to help stop the spread of the HIV in our prison system since we know that rape of prisoners from other prisoners is very large. Then all prisoners should recieve testing again manatory if they tested negative upon entering when they are due for release.
Jake, Miami, 2008-04-27 18:53:05
Right now, HIV testing is a condition of release in Florida.
power Leyba, Valley Village, 2008-04-26 15:54:55
In part I must agree with the doctors. It could lead to a general stigmatizing of the inmates, which would not be a good thing.
Contrariwise, in instances of incarceration due to rape, incest, assault which results in an exchange of body fluids and any other crime that would result in a body fluid exposure; all of those crimes should require mandatory HIV testing. Especially if it involves children.
RAZEinNY, Middletown, 2008-04-26 07:55:04
I am a HIV+ person that works in a State Corrections Facility (a maximum security prison). I totally think that mandatory testing should be done. I think the only option should be; let them decide whether or not they want to be notified of the results. I would guess most would want to know. I would only disclose the diagnosis to them if they were curently symptomatic and needed treatment. I further think Corrections should be doing a BETTER job at education and prevention on HIV/AIDS.
Ann, n/a, 2008-04-25 21:12:08
Yes a lot of inmates are high risk due to substance abuse. Yes lets test them & get them treatment. We do educate & who said we are violating their confidentality. That is kept. Not only for HIV/AIDS but for any STD, hepatitis, MRSA ect. Education is the key. The word must be spread and inmates are a start. I just wished that all prisons would take that stand, test, treat, educate. No I do not agree to give condoms in prisons or jails. No I do not beleive in seperating them.
Seth, San Francisco, 2008-04-25 12:56:04
I totally feel that HIV testing should be manditory for Prisoners. HIV can be used as a weapon to harm someone else on the outside just as much (if not more) in the prison system.
Ann, n/a, 2008-04-25 09:54:47
I think manditory testing should be done. We do it where I work at with no problems and its a good thing. We have one if not the best infection control programs for prisons in this country. It works and they get treated. I do not think seperating them from the general population is right to me thats descrimination & it puts a stigma where it does not need to be, and as for the rape in prison; PREA Prison Rape Elimination Act look it up and read it.
DM, California, 2008-04-25 01:04:12
Hey,if NJ,Michigan, Arkansas, Texas & Tennessee mandate HIV testing for pregnant women; & NY, Connecticut & Illinois require testing for newborns. Then Why is it not OK to require the same for inmates? The bottom line is we are trying to stop the spread of this disease, get them on medications if that is what they want, & educate them on safe sex options. Also if the inmate rapes someone in or out of jail he can be prosecuted for the rape & for pos spread of HIV/AIDS. (FYI I am pos myself)
SB, NEW YORK, 2008-04-24 17:54:18
Over the last 20 years, the Federal confidentially laws are eroding more and more. We must remember that HIV/AIDS stigma has not gone away. Not by a long shot. Society has just gotten better at rationalization and justification for discrimination of people who have this AIDS. Incarcerated and homeless people are just the weakest links. Just because someone is Incarcerated, it does not give anyone the right to violate their confidentially.
positivelyliving, , 2008-04-24 17:15:03
Testing should be mandatory for inmates!!!! Too many come out of prison to infect others unknowingly, why not take the opportunity to test a group that is at a high risk when you have the chance??????
SB, NEW YORK, 2008-04-24 15:06:38
They’re no secrets in jail. Inmates have various jobs all over the facility. Inmates frequently glance at the confidential records of others. Staff often won’t stop them because they are either to busy or just don’t care. Inmates sometimes do despicable things with this information. HIV testing should be at the discretion of the offender unless they are convicted of rape. People are incarcerated for all different reasons and it would be cruel and unusual punishment to make it a mandate.
jeff hammond, carrizozo, NM, 2008-04-24 14:45:48
i was in prison in CA when they decided to do testing of all incoming inmates without their knowledge. the numbers of infected inmates were so high that they stopped testing bcause the costs for treatment and segregated housing would have put the CA prison system into bankruptcy.
NC will find out the same thing if they institute a program like that there.
then they can listen to the lawmakers beg for money to keep HIV+ ppl locked up never releasing them back into society. history repeats.
Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
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