UNODC Zambia supports the commemoration of the World AIDS day 2022 at Kafinsa Correctional facility in Ndola, Copperbelt Province

 

In 2018, it was estimated that 4.6 per cent of people held in prisons are living with HIV, indicating that people in prison are 7.2 times more likely to be living with HIV than adults in the general population.[1] In Zambia, national statistics show that there are close to 25,000 inmates housed in various correctional centres in the country. 3,650 are receiving Antiretroviral Therapy (ART).[2] People in correctional facilities face exceptional risks of HIV infection, exceptional barriers to HIV treatment and higher likelihood of suffering from mental illnesses.

On 30th November each year, the Zambia Correctional Services and its stakeholders celebrate the commemoration of the World AIDS day with people in correctional centres and other closed settings with special emphasis placed on HIV combination prevention and treatment services, as well as promoting collaboration with cooperating partners to enhance access to treatment among inmates living with HIV/AIDS.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC Zambia) supported the commemoration of the World AIDS day by conducting an educational awareness and sensitization program on HIV prevention, testing services for inmates, staff and surrounding communities at the Kamfinsa Correctional Facility in Ndola, in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security, the Prison Health Advisory Committee (PHAC) and other implementing partners (Ips). 1256 persons including inmates were reached with individual and/or small group-level HIV prevention interventions specifically designed for Key Populations. 43 male inmates tested for HIV; 0 female inmates tested for HIV during the event. Out of the 43 males who tested for HIV, 2 were HIV positive.to ensure inmates had equal access to HIV prevention and treatment services during and after the events.

 Marginalized groups such as inmates continued to face economic, social, cultural, legal and health inequities in accessing health care services. The Zambia Correctional Service with UNODC Informal Civil Society Organization (CSO) Group on HIV in Prison has continued to intensify entry and exit screening of TB/HIV for all new admissions and discharges of inmates, employed measures to leaving no one behind aiming at ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, as envisioned by the Sustainable Development Goals, to ensure that the global response accounts for everyone, including the most marginalized; Trained 40 new Zambia Correctional Service health workers in the new consolidated HIV guidelines; Provided IEC materials on HIV/STIS/TB prevention; Enhanced HIV treatment and support services to inmates and the provision of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) to inmates, correctional officers and community.

 


[1] Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). Global AIDS Monitoring (GAM) 2018.