The Importance of Comprehensive HIV/STD Education and Prevention
Programs

Comprehensive HIV/STD education and prevention programs should be
provided for correctional inmates, given the prevalence of high-risk
behaviors among them, the opportunity for interventions afforded during
periods of incarceration, and the potential public health benefits of such
programs. Given the existing knowledge of prevention and of the
particular circumstances and needs of the correctional setting, a
comprehensive program may reasonably be said to include instructor-led
education, peer-led programs, pre- and posttest counseling, and
multisession prevention counseling. The results of the 1997 NIJ/CDC
survey reveal that only 10 percent of State/Federal prison systems and 5
percent of city/county jail systems offer comprehensive programs meeting
this definition in all of their facilities. Clearly, then, there remains much
room for improvement in the depth and coverage of HIV/STD education
and prevention programs in correctional facilities. A promising approach
in this realm is occurring in Massachusetts, where the Department of
Public Health is funding comprehensive HIV/AIDS programs in the
State’s county jails. To be eligible for this funding, the counties must
propose a program including HIV/AIDS prevention and education for
inmates and staff, HIV counseling and testing, HIV primary care and case
management, and aftercare/transitional planning. The HIV/AIDS
prevention and education component must include “most or all” of the
following elements:

o Orientation.

o Peer education.

o Community-based prevention and education.

o Individual prevention and education, on request.

o Written and audiovisual materials.

o Prevention and education in prerelease, day reporting, and pretrial
populations.

o Gender-specific programs at facilities housing women.

o Expansion of HIV curriculums to cover other communicable diseases.

o Programs and materials available in Spanish and English.

In addition, each county program must commit to funding 50 percent of a
full-time HIV/AIDS coordinator for the jail, with the State funding the
other 50 percent.[2]