Lawyers out there should sue the negligent state on behalf of HEP C HIV Prisoners

national | miscellaneous | news report Friday July 26, 2002 13:43 by Pecker Dunne

If lawlor got Hep C thru unhygenic conditions he certainly would

A report by the Irish Penal Reform Trust has said that levels of HIV and Hepatitis C infection among Irish Prisoners have reached epidemic proportions.

A report by the Irish Penal Reform Trust has said that levels of HIV and Hepatitis C infection among Irish Prisoners have reached epidemic proportions.

The rate of HIV among prisoners is more than ten times higher than in the general population while the rate of Hepatitis C infection is more than 100 times higher.

The report, which was jointly compiled with Merchants Quay Ireland, suggests a number of ways of combating the problem.

However, the Governor of Mountjoy Prison, John Lonergan, said that while he welcomed much of the report's contents he did not agree with some of the proposals contained in it.

A needle exchange programme and the distribution of condoms within prisons are two of the proposals contained in this report.

Its author, Rick Lines, said that these practices were already in operation in most European prisons and that the approach to protecting prisoners should be similar to that of the wider community.

However John Lonergan said that he would not personally be in favour of a needle exchange programme in prisons.

The report is critical of the Government's role in preventing the spread of HIV and Hepatitis C in prisons, saying it falls far short of the innovative approach taken by many European countries.