Blood Borne Illnesses and Prisons

The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network has produced several videos where former prisoners or family members of prisoners tell their stories of drug use in prisons. The reality is that drugs do get into the prison system, but sterile injection equipment is not available. Therefore, prisoners are at high risk for being infected with HIV and Hep C. These videos argue that basic harm-reduction strategies, like providing sterile needles, would go a long way towards protecting prisoners’ basic human right to safety and security.

A full report on the issue, written by The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, is available here.Â