Prisons and AIDS: A Public Health Challenge

Abstract

Prisons and AIDS I was excited about the opportunity to read Prisons and AIDS , particularly since there are so few books written on correctional health care. Ultimately, however, I was disappointed. The book contains very little new information. It relies heavily on the authors' prior published work, particularly that of Dr Hammett and his colleagues Rebecca Widom, Joel Epstein, Michael Gross, Santiago Sifre, and Tammy Enos. Beginning in 1988, Dr Hammett and others in his firm have conducted surveys of US prison systems and selected jails to determine seroprevalence rates of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in incarcerated populations under the auspices of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ). The most recent survey occurred in 1994, and the results were published in December 1995 by NIJ in Issues and Practices, 1994 Update: HIV/AIDS in Correctional Facilities. Prisons and AIDS uses much of the data and language of the prior book, either