'Systemic failure': Global reviews show extent of injecting drug use and infectious diseases in prisons
'Systemic failure': Global reviews show extent of injecting drug use and infectious diseases in prisons
‘Systemic failure’: Global reviews show extent of injecting drug use and infectious diseases in prisons but low treatment access
One in nine people in prisons globally have a history of injecting drug use and their risk of HIV, viral hepatitis and tuberculosis is up to 45 times higher than in the general population.
Yet access to infectious disease prevention, treatment and harm reduction services remains woefully inadequate, with most countries failing to provide basic coverage, according to two landmark reviews published in the International Journal of Drug Policy.
Scientia Professor Louisa Degenhardt – Research Director at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC), UNSW Sydney – said the findings confirmed that prison populations were a critical target group for eliminating HIV, viral hepatitis and tuberculosis. (NDARC, Australien, 09.02.2026)