Australia: Climbing the political agenda

The spread and management of HIV and hepatitis B and C in prisons has been high on the political agenda in Australia since researchers reported the first confirmed case of a prisoner contracting HIV through needle sharing. Federal health minister Dr Carmen Lawrence has asked each of the states of Australia, which administer separate prison systems, to ensure that prison inmates receive the same protection from AIDS as the rest of the community receives. She said that states had resisted introducing educational prevention schemes and providing condoms. But she stopped short of proposing a needle exchange scheme, which many AIDS organisations and experts want but which prison authorities and staff are strongly resisting.

The …