00:02Despite tight security, about one in seven offenders report injecting drugs inside Australian prisons.
00:09Some of my patients only started drugs when they went to jail.
00:13Now a Queensland health memo obtained by ABC News has exposed a potential public health risk.
00:20An inmate unknowingly infected with HIV and Hepatitis C reported sharing needles in jail.
00:27The alert was sent to sexual health clinics in January and says the department is contacting around 300 individuals in
00:36the community who may have been exposed.
00:39We've now got preventable disease happening.
00:42Queensland Health says the possible exposure occurred in an adult male prison between January and June last year.
00:50A spokesperson says the community risk is low.
00:53Medics stress both viruses are treatable and patients should not be stigmatised.
01:00Across Australia, more than 750 people were diagnosed with HIV in 2024.
01:07There were more than 7,000 Hepatitis C notifications.
01:11There is a greater risk for Hepatitis C acquisition in prison compared to HIV.
01:16For decades, community needle exchange programs have driven down transmission.
01:21But they don't exist in prisons, to the dismay of some doctors.
01:26And if prisons aren't dealt with proactively, they become incubators.
01:30And their incubators then impact on the whole society.
01:33So there should not be needles in jails.
01:35Condoms are another public health measure absent in Queensland jails.
01:40It remains the only jurisdiction in the country to ban them, citing safety and security concerns.
01:47Decisions affecting the health of those inside and out.
01:51Nexast C voltage national benefits in a lot ofiseness.
01:52Decisions affecting the health of the world is also helped save solutions.
01:54Includes are twofold in the country to support the health of the world.
01:54And what is it is about violence?
01:54How many benefits of people?
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