The right to health and international drug control, compulsory treatment for drug dependence and access to controlled medicines 2010, para. 29
Paragraph
Paragraph text
Currently over 9 million people are held in penal institutions worldwide. In many prisons, rates of HIV infection are noted to be several times higher than in the mainstream community. This is attributed to injecting drug use prior to imprisonment, as well as risk factors within these populations, such as poverty and marginalization. The prevalence of hepatitis infections within prisons is also high, with hepatitis C infection rates exceeding those of HIV. Once in prison, high rates of injecting drug use, combined with a lack of access to OST and sterile injecting equipment, create enormous risk for inmates. That risk is then passed on to members of the public upon prisoners' release. Failure to implement effective harm-reduction programmes and drug-dependence treatment in those settings violates the enjoyment of the right to health.
Legal status
Non-negotiated soft law
Body
Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
Document type
Special Procedures' report
Means of adoption
N.A.
Topic(s)
Equality & Inclusion
Health
Person(s) affected
All
Year
2010
Paragraph type
Other
Reference
SR Health, Report to the UNGA (2010), A/65/255, para. 29.