BATTLING PRISON DISEASE

Two Women Try To Keep Prisoners Safe As They Seek Risky Relief From
Misery

Drugs find their way into prisons, despite all efforts to plug supply
lines. And for many inmates, the most dangerous part of life inside
is sharing jury-rigged needles.

Lack of knowledge, misery and addictions combine in a sometimes
lethal mix, but Canadian prisons do not permit distribution of clean
needles -- meaning health risks soar for an already at-risk population.

However, in Greater Victoria facilities -- William Head Prison,
Victoria Youth Custody Services Centre and Vancouver Island Regional
Correctional Centre -- a two-woman team is fighting disease with education.

"People are advocating for a needle exchange in prisons, but in the
meantime, we are offering six-week courses," said Erin Gibson,
manager of harm-reduction services for AIDS Vancouver Island, who
teaches the course with health promotions educator Sara Gifford.

In addition to HIV and hepatitis C prevention, the sessions deal with
topics such as getting tested, living a healthy lifestyle after
diagnosis, preventing sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis and
problems resulting from steroid use.

The wretchedness of prison life can lead to people taking risks, such
as sharing needles made out of ballpoint pens or using needles so
blunt they rip off chunks of skin, according to Under The Skin, a new
report by the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, which gives chilling
descriptions of diseases spread by makeshift needles.

"Life is so desperate in prison that, even if they

didn't use until they got there, they start using to forget," Gifford
said.

"People get to the point that they're willing to take risks," added
Gibson.

Much of the information involves basic safety, such as ensuring
anything that goes in your body during tattooing has not touched
someone else's body.

"And we identify risks," Gibson said, "whether it's smoking crack,
having sex or not sharing nail clippers or razors because of hep C."

Gibson and Gifford know those who take the course are a conduit to
the larger prison population, so they hand out armfuls of literature.
"We've got guys that come and want to take the information because
there's new young people on the unit and they don't have that
information," Gibson said.

"HIV and hep C are preventable inside and outside, and people don't
deserve to contract these diseases."

The philosophy behind the course is that everyone deserves access to
information that will keep them healthy and that more than 90 per
cent of those in prison will get out, so it makes more sense to
prevent diseases than wait until they spread to family and community
members.

Similar courses are run at some Canadian prisons, but they are unique
internationally, according to AIDS Vancouver Island,

However, more than 60 prisons worldwide, in Europe, Asia and the
Middle East, have needle-exchange programs, says the HIV-AIDS Legal
Network report. In those prisons, there is no evidence needles are
used as weapons or that drug use or overdoses increase, it says.

The report says rates of HIV and hep C in prison are 10 to 20 times
higher than in the regular population.

The network was to take its plea for prison needle exchanges before a
Commons committee earlier this year, but was bumped off the agenda
when parliament was prorogued. The group is seeking a new date but
faces opposition from some Conservative MPs, who say sanctioning
illegal drug use is not the right way to tackle drugs in prison.

Figures from the Correctional Service of Canada estimate at least 11
per cent of prisoners inject drugs, and the Canadian Medical
Association has recommended to government that CSC develop and
evaluate at least one pilot needle and syringe program in prison.

Meanwhile, Gibson and Gifford hope their classes will inspire healthy
behaviour. "They may not have a lot of control over their lives, but
at least we can talk about what health means for them," Gibson said.