A new method for tracking HIV/AIDS care data for newly released prison inmates could improve their access to health care—and reduce the nation’s incidence of HIV, according to a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study published in Virulence and reported by Medical News Today. Since 2009, all Ryan White-funded programs have had to send medical data to the federal government. By correlating this data with data on the release of prisoners from the correctional system, researchers at a pilot program in Rhode Island have been able to measure the treatment and care of HIV-positive inmates who receive treatment after their release. People in the prison system are three times as likely to be living with HIV as the general population, and many lose access to care or stop taking medications upon their release, making them more likely to transmit HIV to others.

To read the Medical News Today article, click here.