Abstract
HIV/AIDS is a serious health problem among prisoners and constitutes a big challenge for prison administration services, public health services and governments. Aims: Determine the prevalence of HIV infection among prisoners and describe associated factors. Population and Methods: This was a descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study conducted from December 2015 to October 2016. A sample of 600 prisoners was randomly interviewed nationwide. They were selected directly from the sample frame from across the country and proportionally from all sites. Pre-established questionnaires providing information on the sociodemographic and biological characteristics of prisoners were used for the collection of data. Data entry and analysis were performed using EXCEL and SPSS 18 software. Results: The survey was based on a randomised sample of 600 prisoners, 593 of whom accepted blood extraction for the HIV testing. The series was mainly composed of males (89%). The median age was 33 years (18 - 69). The level of education among respondents was 60%. Regarding marital status, the proportion of married prisoners was 51.8%. Almost three-quarters (71.5%) were at their first imprisonment and 51.8% were on preventive detention. The reasons for imprisonment varied and were dominated by drug use (35.3%), while only 4.6% confessed that they continued using drugs while in prison. 97.8% of prisoners have had a sexual experience. Their median age was 19 years at their first sexual intercourse. 20.5% reported using a condom during their first intercourse. Multi partnership was estimated at 17.8%. The prevalence of HIV infection was high among prisoners (2%), the quadruple of the national rate. This prevalence was associated with female sex (4.5%) (p = 0.012) and housewives (12.5%) (p = 0.002). Conclusion: Prisoners are very vulnerable to HIV infection with a high prevalence compared to the national rate, hence the need for the enforcement of effective HIV prevention and care measures in prisons.
Highlights
In many countries, HIV/AIDS is a serious health problem among prisoners
The vulnerability of groups of prisoners is linked to detention conditions such as the lack of treatment against sexual transmissible infection (STIs), prohibited sexual relations and the fact that the prisons are places of concentration of people considered as second rate citizens by society such as drug users, migrants and sex workers [2] [3]
Almost all were of Senegalese nationality (91.8%)
Summary
HIV/AIDS is a serious health problem among prisoners. As such, it is a serious challenge for prison administration services, public health services and governments [1]. Various studies show that the proportion of people infected with HIV in prisons is higher than in the general population [2] [3] [4]. In sub-Saharan Africa, the HIV prevalence was two to fifty times higher among prisoners than in the general population [2] [3] [4]. Jürgens and al reported high prevalence rates of 27% and 41.4% for Zambia and South Africa respectively [2]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
