Canada: Rate of HIV Jumps in Federal Prisons

The number of federal inmates with HIV has risen steadily in the past decade, according to Daryn Bond of Manitoba AIDS Co-operative. In 2001, 223 Canadian inmates were HIV-positive, up from 24 twelve years earlier. The numbers show that injection drug use among inmates continues to be a problem. "We've heard stories where needles have been passed around 200 times from inmate to inmate," Bond said. "The infection rate within a men's prison for HIV and hepatitis C is 10 times that of the normal population." The problem is acute at Stony Mountain Penitentiary near Winnipeg. "A judge refused to send a young offender to Stony Mountain not too long ago because of the high rate of hepatitis C and HIV within the prison population," Bond said.

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