Globally, people who inject drugs (PWID) are at high risk of HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. PWID experience high incarceration rates and there is evidence of elevated injecting risk and HIV/HCV transmission risk following release from prison. Combined with this, there is a lack of prison-based interventions, likely undermining community efforts to reduce HIV/HCV transmission amongst PWID. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine whether a history of recent or past incarceration increases the risk of acquiring HIV and HCV. We use modelling to determine how incarceration contributes to HIV and HCV transmission in different global settings and the potential impact of providing HIV/HCV prevention and treatment interventions in prisons.
Speaker bio:
Professor Peter Vickerman, University of Bristol
Peter Vickerman is a Professor in infectious disease modelling at the University of Bristol. He has 25 years’ experience in infectious disease modelling. His research focuses on the use of mathematical modelling to help understand the transmission of different infectious diseases and impact and cost-effectiveness of prevention measures. Specific expertise focuses on the transmission of HIV, HCV and other STIs amongst different high-risk groups including female sex workers, men who have sex with men and injecting drug users. He has extensive experience of conducting collaborative research with organisations in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe and the UK. He has contributed to numerous international advisory groups (including WHO, U.S. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. National Institute of Health, NICE Public Health guidance committees and Public Health England)