Corrections_Today_November_December_2023_Vol.85_No.6

Health Care Special Session & Luncheon

Hepatitis-C. He described staffing shortages, a lack of trust and stigma of a positive Hepatitis C diagnosis and a lack of connection between health records inside and outside the carceral system. “The hardest part will be how to work with local jails given the short time many residents stay as well as the limited health care that is offered,” he said Collins ended by urging the audience to push in their home communities to get this program off the ground and eliminate Hepatitis-C. Dr. Carolyn Wester MD, MPH of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention followed Dr. Collins by pointing out that 1 in 3 persons with Hepatitis-C pass through the correctional system

every year. Some states prevalence is as high as 39% with injection drug use as the most common ly cited risk factor for acquiring new Hepatitis-C infections. Even in correctional settings with testing and treatment rates are much higher than general population. Wester urged the corrections professionals in the audience to make sure they were up-to-date with policies and procedures for dealing with Hepatitis-C in their facilities. A question and answer session followed with topics raised spanning current legislative action and the importance of preventing transmission as well as curing.

— KIRK RAYMOND

153 RD CONGRESS OF CORRECTION

28 — November/December 2023 Corrections Today