Grant: Dissemination Events - PA: Gender, Sex and Health Research

According to the Correctional Service of Canada, approximately 80% of federal prisoners have substance use issues and over 1 in 7 inject drugs behind bars, where sterile injection equipment is not available. As a result, estimates of HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) prevalence among federal prisoners are, respectively, 10 and 30 times the population as a whole - with rates considerably higher for women and Aboriginal people. Among Aboriginal women in federal prisons, for example, over 1 in 10 is reported to be living with HIV and almost 1 in 2 is living with HCV. Whereas Aboriginal people make up only 3.8% of the total Canadian population, they represent approximately 20% of federal prisoners, and are thus disproportionately affected by HIV and the lack of access to clean needles. While the Canadian government has thus far been resistant to prison-based needle and syringe programs (PNSPs), a lawsuit undertaken by four HIV organizations and a former prisoner might result in the courts compelling the prison service to make PNSPs available as a public health measure. In order to be effective, however, PNSPs need to be developed and implemented on the basis of scientific research and practice-based evidence. Evaluations of PNSPs have found them to be an important means of reducing the risk of HIV and HCV infection. Outside of Canada, these programs currently work in a variety of institutions (e.g., men's and women's prisons of differing security levels) and have employed different methods of needle distribution (e.g., peer distribution, automatic dispensing machines, distribution by prison staff or outside agencies). Prison Health Now, held January 23-25, 2014 at Ryerson University, will bring together national and international stakeholders in the fields of HIV, Aboriginal health, harm reduction, women's health, and prisoner rights to disseminate research, dispel common misconceptions of PNSPs, build new partnerships, and develop practical PNSP guidelines.