REPORT TOUTS NEEDLE EXCHANGE

OTTAWA - Needle-exchange programs are a "pragmatic and necessary" way
to stop the spread of deadly and financially draining diseases like
HIV and hepatitis behind bars, according to a report to be released
Tuesday.

The 42-page report from the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, called
"Under the Skin," features testimonials from 50 federal and former
inmates and aims to raise public awareness and rally support for
needle and syringe programs in penitentiaries.

"We thought it is a way to humanize them and for the public to realize
this could be your brother, your sister," said Sandra Ka Hon Chu, one
of the report authors, who noted HIV and hepatitis C rates are 10 to
20 times higher in prisons than in the regular population.

The inmates describe rampant drug use while incarcerated, using shared
needles and home-made "rigs" from earrings, Q-Tips or the insides of
lighters.

"I never wanted to share a needle; I didn't choose to share," Ronald
George Sallenbach of Edmonton said. "But when you need to get a hit
and don't have a rig, you end up sharing."

The report cites human rights as well as financial reasons for
implementing needle exchange, noting the cost of treating an inmate
with hep C is $22,000 a year and $29,000 for a prisoner with HIV.

The Conservative government has rejected calls for a needle-exchange
program and scrapped a pilot safe tattoo initiative in prisons.