For more information on this session, including access to speaker presentations, please see the conference Programme-at-a-Glance.

Rates of HIV and HCV in prisons, pre-trial detention centers and other closed settings are much higher than in the community, and risk behaviours – in particular consensual and non-consensual forms of sexual activity and injecting drug use – are prevalent behind bars. Serious outbreaks of HIV have been documented in a number of prison settings. Nevertheless, few prison systems have implemented comprehensive, evidence-based HIV prevention programmes and taken them to scale. Access to uninterrupted HIV treatment, care and support upon arrest, pre-trial detention, transfer and upon release is also often not guaranteed – despite international recommendations that urge countries to take urgent action to address HIV (and HCV) in closed settings. This session will present examples of successful responses to HIV and HCV in closed settings; examine what else, in addition to comprehensive HIV and HCV programmes, is needed to successfully respond to HIV, HCV and injecting drug use in these settings; address the particular issues related to women in these settings; and debate how we can move from rhetoric to action on HIV and HCV in prisons, pre-trial detention centers and other closed settings.

Event Date

Jul 19, 2010