HIV/AIDS, Drug Abuse Treatment, and the Correctional System

This paper deals with in-prison prevalence and transmission of HIV U.S. Prisons have high concentrations of injection drug users (IDUs); rates of HIV are high among new admissions and IDUs are the second largest group at risk for HIV infection; high-risk methods of transmission (such as anal sex and needle sharing) occur with some frequency within prisons; potential correctional costs for HIV/AIDS medical services are likely to exceed the resources for the system itself. Incarceration affords opportunities to deliver HIV prevention, to test different models for prevention, and to test vaccines as they become available in a relatively controlled environment. The distribution of condoms and syringes, and parallel increases in tuberculosis and related perils are also discussed.