Report: Most Released Inmates Delay HIV Treatment

A new report finds HIV positive prison inmates often stop taking life-saving antiretroviral drugs after being released which causes "a serious public health threat."

The report conducted by a team of Texas researchers is published in today’s edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association. It's the first to track poz patients from prison release to outside care. The study concludes the prison system has become "an important front" to treat and control HIV and AIDS. But since most former inmates initially lack private or public health insurance, they often have trouble getting life-saving antiretroviral meds—such as Viread, Truvada and Retrovir—that can keep the virus in check.

More than 2100 HIV positive inmates in the Texas prison system were studied. Researchers found "90% or more of the inmates" did not fill a prescription soon enough to avoid interruptions in their treatment regimens. Black and Hispanic inmates were "30% less likely than white inmates" to fill a prescription within  30 days of release, according to Reuters.

The Centers for Disease Controls reports more HIV infections occur among black gay and bisexual men than any other group.

Study: Most Ex-Inmates Delay HIV Treatment [Chron]
Interruptions in HIV Therapy Common [Reuters]

Comments

[seanndc]

wow. this confirms what we've long suspected.

[Nathan James]

A related question that should be asked about this news is : "Why aren't these inmates qualifying for and/or receiving Medicaid insurance, as per their diagnosis?

[libhomo]

This country desperately needs single payer healthcare. It also needs to treat poverty as an economic problem rather than a means to keep wages down for the middle class.