Spain, a global example in the care of AIDS in prisons International AIDS Conference

More than 6,000 prisoners in Spanish jails are victims of AIDS, 8 percent of the 76,000 inmates in this country, but the prevalence of HIV in prisons is decreasing.

Spain, a global example in the care of AIDS in prisons International AIDS Conference

Spain has become a world leader in the attention given to inmates with AIDS in the prisons of this country, a model that has now been exhibited at the International AIDS Conference. This was stated by the secretary of the National AIDS Plan, Tomás Hernández, just when the Vienna Declaration, signed in this forum, claims that criminalization of illicit drug users is promoting an HIV epidemic with "extremely negative" consequences.

"In Spain it has been more than a decades worth of work and it is worth mentioning and sharing," said Hernandez, who recalled that at present in Eastern Europe they are having a very similar epidemiological situation of this country in the 70s and 80s, when the bulk of new infections occurred among injection drug users.

At that time, Spain took "very brave" action beyond the introduction of antiretroviral therapy, such as harm reduction programs based on needle exchange, methadone dispensing, distribution of condoms, early diagnosis and counselling, including other factors. "At a time in which many countries have not adopted these measures," lamented the secretary, "we are a good example" of the benefits of government measures that, in principle, were "very controversial."

In Spain 20,000 syringes are distributed annually in prisons along with other measures to prevent the spread of this infection.
In fact, it decreased from 28.4% in 1989 to 7.8% in 2008, HIV prevalence in the general population in Spain is 0.3 percent. Hernandez has expressed the will of the Spanish Government to "keep its commitments" in the fight against AIDS.

Spain makes a "more generous" contribution to the Global Fund, ranging between seventh and eighth place in donor countries, over others with a much larger GDP. "I hope they can keep their commitments," stressed.

The secretary of the National AIDS Plan, who will meet in Vienna with representatives of UNAIDS, WHO and EU, has clarified some of the goals that makes Spain stand out.

The first is the "pending" to eradicate the "stigma and discrimination faced by people living with HIV, something that no "scientific evidence." Another of the challenges is to combat the "considerable diagnostic delay" that exists in Spain, to improve the prognosis of those affected, their quality of life and reduce new infections.




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