Posted on August 01, 2016
Source: The Baltimore Sun
"The cycling of inmates in and out of prisons and jails around the world contributes significantly to the global epidemics of HIV, viral hepatitis and tuberculosis, according to new research from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Inmates typically suffer from higher rates of those diseases, which spread more readily in crowded correctional facilities and then get passed to others on the outside when the inmates are released, the study found.
The study, 'Global burden of HIV, viral hepatitis, and tuberculosis in prisoners and detainees,' was published July 17 in The Lancet as part of a series of studies on HIV and prisoners.
Although the study was global in its focus and did not examine individual nations, let alone cities, the findings could have important implications for Maryland, and particularly Baltimore, which has one of the highest rates of HIV infection among U.S. metro areas. Inmates from Baltimore make up more than a third of the state's prison population.
Andrea Wirtz, a co-author of the study and assistant scientist at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, said the results were important, considering the racial and economic disparities in the jail and prison population from Baltimore."
