Prison medicine

Globally, one-in-nine incarcerated people have a history of IV drug use. In Australia and New Zealand, it’s one-in-two. The University of New South Wales (UNSW) has become the first to quantify, in two systematic reviews, both the prevalence of blood-borne diseases for incarcerated people, and access to a handful of well-known healthcare programs. It found that no country, worldwide, had all the programs available.

Becca Whitehead

Needle and syringe programs are a proven public health intervention that provide free, sterile injecting equipment to people who use drugs. By reducing needle sharing, these programs help prevent the spread of blood-borne viruses such as hepatitis C and HIV and minimise life-threatening bacterial infections.

Farah Houdroge, Mark Stoové, Nick Scott

A new consensus statement on opioid agonist treatment (OAT) in custodial settings has been published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

Annika Howells

It’s hoped a new program giving prison nurses psychosocial training will improve the mental health of prisoners, who are still exempt from Medicare and PBS subsidies, prompting calls for changes.

Sam Hunt

There are urgent calls to abandon the restraining of prisoners receiving palliative care, with the ongoing practice blamed on the Australian justice and health systems colliding.

Sam Hunt