Mexico prison tackles HIV ignorance

By Jane Dreaper
BBC Health correspondent in Mexico City

Prisons offer a potent mixture in terms of the risk of contracting HIV.

The true extent of HIV infection in the prison is not known

There are men who have sex with other men (even though they might not wish to admit it), addicts with a history of injecting drugs and needles being shared for tattoos.

I visited Latin America's largest prison - Reclusorio Preventivo Oriente in Mexico City - to find out more about HIV prevention work there.

It was with trepidation that I entered a grim security area, lit with harsh fluorescent bulbs and smelling strongly of disinfectant.

I'd been told to wear brightly coloured clothes, so I stood out as a visitor. The inmates all wear white or beige.

There are more than 11,000 men in Oriente - a mixture of remand prisoners and others who have been convicted of crimes.

The governor, Ruben Fernandes Lima, told me the HIV problem there isn't as severe as it could be - though he knows some young inmates are infected.

But in reality nobody knows the full extent of HIV inside the prison.

'Mosquito bites'

The authorities don't offer widespread testing, for fear that they might then not be able to provide drug treatment to all who needed it.

An American group called Population Services International is offering workshops to prisoners in an effort to prevent HIV.

I watched as a dozen inmates were asked how they thought they could contract HIV.

It's so important to pass on information that protects their lives Carlos Ortiz Perez, a prisoner who helps educate others about HIV

Some surprising misconceptions have emerged at the workshops.

For example, some prisoners think they can get HIV from a mosquito bite.

Another part of PSI's work in the prison is getting inmates to volunteer to educate each other about the risks of HIV.

They are given special badges which allow them access to all areas of the prison, because the work is seen as important.

One of the volunteers, a car thief called Carlos Ortiz Perez, 45, told me: "I really like working with the young people in the prison.

"It's so important to pass on information that protects their lives.

"But you have to be very careful and sensitive to how ready the other person is to talk about HIV.

"Any conflict around here gets resolved with blows."

Watchtowers

Inside Oriente, I was also shown a "boot camp" whose participants were all former crack cocaine addicts.

Former crack cocaine addicts are given a strict exercise regime

They marched quickly around a yard while chanting, in an exercise designed to build a sense of responsibility to the group and discipline.

The inmates spend most of the day outside in bright sunshine.

They're surrounded by razor wire and watchtowers, but there's also bougainvillea and even some cats.

The HIV prevention programme is still being evaluated, but the workers running it hope they are making a difference.