Simooya O, Sanjobo N, Kunda P, Mutonga C, Melchior W; International Conference on AIDS.
Int Conf AIDS. 1998; 12: 459 (abstract no. 23589).
Copperbilt University, Kitwe, Zambia.
OBJECTIVES: Unprotected male to male sexual intercourse, sharing of razor blades, tattooing and injecting drug use have been identified as risk factors for HIV transmission in African prisons (AIDS 1995). Beginning May 1997 we have followed a cohort of inmates living at Kamfinsa prison in Zambia to determine the risk of contracting HIV whilst in Prison. The prison does not provide condoms and shaving appliances. METHODS: Before commencement of the project, a meeting was held with prison staff and inmates at which the background to the study was explained. The study is voluntary and open to inmates in prison for at least three months. Participants undergo counselling and HIV testing at six monthly intervals. All results are confidential and subjects are free to withdraw. It is anticipated that the surveillance will take up to three years. RESULTS: A total of 78 inmates agreed to take part in the study. Eighteen (23%) of these inmates were HIV seropositive at entry. At six months, 28 (36%) inmates in the cohort were seen. All had lived continuously at the prison since entry. One inmate, HIV negative at first visit, tested HIV positive at six months. This subject reported that he had shared razor blades in the intervening period but had not been tattooed or used drugs. He denied having had unprotected sex with another inmate in the same period. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge this is probably the first report of seroconversion in an African prison. The lack of specific measures for HIV control in African prisons is a matter of great concern. There is an urgent need to bridge the gap existing between public health measures readily available outside prison and those offered inside.
Publication Types:
Keywords:
- Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
- Condoms
- Counseling
- HIV Infections
- HIV Seropositivity
- Longitudinal Studies
- Male
- Prisons
- Risk Factors
- Unsafe Sex
- Zambia
- transmission
Other ID:
UI: 102229216
From Meeting Abstracts