Meet James and Craig, two brothers who are also former prisoners. James caught HIV in prison. His infection was entirely preventable.
News Archive
In the news...
The HIV Legal Network and our partners have been very active, influencing media coverage and bringing real understanding to the complex issue of prison health and the need for needle and syringe programs. The following is a selection of notable media coverage on the issue, both print and video (please note that links below are currently active, but may be deleted or archived at any time by their hosts):
- Prison needle exchange program expanding to new prisons despite calls for overhaul – CBC, October 30, 2023
- An overdose prevention site for inmates is coming to this Ontario prison, Dan Taekema, September 12, 2023
- Op-ed: Ontario court’s failure to ensure safe, equitable access to sterile needles blow to prisoners’ rights
Sandra Ka Hon Chu and Richard Elliott, The Hill Times, May 21, 2020 - Ontario court says it’s too soon to pass judgment on constitutionality of evolving prison needle exchange program
Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press, May 1, 2020
Also covered in 80+ other Canadian outlets - [In French]: Le programme fédéral d'échange de seringues en prison jugé constitutionnel
Jean-Philippe Nadeau, CBC Radio Canada, May 1, 2020
Publié le 1 mai 2020 - 'No new anything': Guards union says prison needle exchange expansion on hold
Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press, March 22, 2020
Also covered in 80+ other Canadian outlets - Op-ed: Correctional Service of Canada must do better
Sandra Ka Hon Chu and Lorraine Whitman, The Hill Times, March 16, 2020 - Op-ed: To eliminate blood-borne infections in Canada, we have to remember that prison health is public health
Dr Thomas Kerr, The Globe and Mail, March 6, 2020 - Le programme fédéral d'échange de seringues est-il inconstitutionnel?
Jean-Philippe Nadeau, Radio Canada, March 6, 2020 - Challenge to prison needle exchange program gets its day in court
Jane Gerster, Global News, March 6, 2020 - Clean needles in prisons called 'essential health care' in court challenge
Colin Perkel, Canadian Press, March 6, 2020
Also covered in 80+ other Canadian outlets - Evaluating the pros of the Prison Needle Exchange Program
Justin Goulet, Lethbridge News Now, February 18, 2020 - Audio: CBC Radio 'Ontario Morning'
Interview with Sandra Ka Hon Chu, Dec 17, 2019 - Baranyai: The case for easy, confidential and essential prison needle exchanges
Robin Baranyai, The London Free Press, December 13, 2019 - Audio: Next week, a federal constitutional challenge will be heard in an Ontario courthouse
The Evan Solomon Show - Bell Media's national radio program, Dec 9, 2019 - Challenge to government's prison-needle ban postponed to Dec. 17
CTV News, Dec 9, 2019 - Accès à des seringues stériles en prison : le juge reporte les audiences
Radio Canada, Dec 8, 2019 - Ontario court to hear challenge to prison needle ban this week
Paola Loriggio, Canadian Press, Dec 8, 2019
Also covered in National Post, CBC, CP24, Global News, CTV News, and 20+ more outlets - Last-minute delay in constitutional challenge to federal prison needle ban
The Canadian Press, November 4, 2019 - How a Misapplied Needle Exchange May Harm Incarcerated People
Sessi Kuwabara Blanchard, Filter, October 2, 2019 - First prison supervised consumption site coming to Alberta
CityNews, Aug 17, 2019 - Prison needle exchange program will out drug users, advocate says
Terry Davidson, The Lawyer’s Daily, August 16, 2019 - Supervised injection sites can’t replace needle-and-syringe programs in prison
Sandra Ka Hon Chu, Hill Times, June 25, 2019 - Advocacy group concerned over privacy of overdose prevention site proposed for Drumheller prison
Amy Tucker, Star Calgary, June 14, 2019 - Canada to test first needle exchange program in a North American prison
Leyland Cecco, The Guardian, 15 May, 2018 - Why no needle and syringe program in our federal prisons, Mr. Trudeau?
Sandra Ka Hon Chu & Richard Elliott, Ottawa Citizen, November 2, 2017 - UN report finds Canadian drug policy is failing racialized communities
Nicholas Caivano, Ricochet, September 12, 2017 - Canada should introduce needle programs for prisoners
Richard Elliott and Rick Lines, Montreal Gazette, May 15, 2017 - Needle exchanges in federal prisons can save money and lives
The Globe and Mail, January 26, 2017 - Why has the federal government rejected harm reduction in our prisons?
Janet Butler-McPhee and Sandra Ka Hon Chu, Ottawa Citizen, January 24, 2017 - Evidence supports fight for harm reduction plans
Robin Baranyai, Timmins Press, January 20, 2017 - Providing clean needles for inmates too risky, Canadian prison officials say
Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press, January 17, 2017 - We need to help our prisoners safely take drugs
Sandra Ka Hon Chu, Precedent, December 5, 2016 - Why don't harm reduction strategies in prisons include needle exchange programs? Arielle Piat-Sauve, TVO, July 5, 2016
- We need to help our prisoners safely take drugs
Roger Collier, CMAJ, July 4, 2016 - Why don't harm reduction strategies in prisons include needle exchange programs?
Arielle Piat-Sauve, TVO, July 5, 2016 - Start prison-based needle and syringe programs, researchers suggest
Kristy Kirkup, The Canadian Press, February 12, 2016 - Prison needle programs touted to reduce HIV and Hep C
Alex Ballingall, Toronto Star, February 3, 2016 - Harm reduction behind bars: Prison-based needle and syringe programs
Emily van der Meulen and Sandra Ka Hon Chu, CATIE, Spring 2015 - Making prison needle exchange programs work in Canada - Part 3
Legal Aid Ontario, February 19, 2015 - Lack of needle exchange in federal prison a costly policy for inmate health, taxpayers
Stephanie Clavaiz-Loranger and Anne Marie DiCenso, Kingston Whig Standard, November 12, 2014 - Canada needs to adopt a prison harm reduction program
Denise Denning, Rabble.ca, February 7, 2014 - AIDS groups call for prison needle programs
Diana Mehta, The Canadian Press, October 18, 2013 - A call for pragmatism in clean-needle debate
André Picard, The Globe and Mail, October 1, 2012 - Clean Needles in Prison [Audio]
CBC Day 6, September 28, 2012 - Lawsuit seeks safe needle exchange for Canadian prisoners [Audio]
Radio-Canada International, September 25, 2012 - Ottawa sued over 'failure' to provide needles in prisons [Video]
CTV News, September 25, 2012 - Prison syring ban: HIV advocates file suit against federal government
Laura Kane, Toronto Star, September 25, 2012 - Lawsuit seeks needle exchange programs for prisons
Maureen Brosnahan, CBC News, September 25, 2012 - Inmates take Ottawa to court over access to clean needles
Anna Mehler-Paperny, The Globe and Mail, September 25, 2012 - Prison syringe bans threaten inmate health: Charter case
Laura Stone, iPOLITICS, September 25, 2012 - Un ancien prisonnier infecté à l'hépatite C poursuit le gouvernement [French language]
Phillippe Leblanc, Radio Canada, le 25 Septembre 2012
Lawsuit filed against government of canada for failing to protect the health of federal prisoners
Former prisoner needlessly infected with hepatitis C while behind bars
September 25, 2012 – The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, Prisoners with HIV/AIDS Support Action Network (PASAN), CATIE, the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network (CAAN) and Steven Simons, a former federal prisoner, launched a lawsuit against the Government of Canada over its failure to protect the health of people in prison through its ongoing refusal to implement clean needle and syringe programs to prevent the spread of HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) in federal institutions.
Steven Simons was incarcerated in Warkworth Institution from 1998 to 2010, where he was infected with hepatitis C when a fellow prisoner used his drug injection equipment.
“When I was in prison, I would see people passing one homemade needle around and sharpening it with matchbooks. The needle would be dirty and held together with hot glue. I watched people shove a dull needle to try to penetrate their skin, creating craters, abscesses and disfigurements,” says Simons. Simons is intent on ensuring others don’t continue to suffer for no reason. He adds, “I wanted to be involved in this case to save lives and prevent the spread of hepatitis and HIV.”
In Canada, people in prison — a disproportionate number of whom are Aboriginal and suffer from drug dependence — face rates of HIV and HCV infection that are at least 10 and 30 times higher, respectively, than in the overall population. These figures are even higher for women in prison. People who inject drugs behind bars are more likely to share and reuse injection equipment than people in the community because they are denied access to sterile injecting equipment while in prison, significantly increasing their risk of contracting HIV and HCV. This risk will only be exacerbated by the recent passage of Bill C-10, the so-called Safe Streets and Communities Act, an “omnibus” crime bill that will further increase Canada’s prison population as more and more people are incarcerated for non-violent drug offences.
Currently, no Canadian prison permits the distribution of sterile injection equipment to prisoners, despite overwhelming evidence of the health protection benefits of such programs from other countries where they have been operating for years.
“People do not surrender their human rights when they enter prison, including their right to access health services equivalent to those outside prisons. Society should not sentence people to a higher risk of infection with HIV or hepatitis,” said Sandra Ka Hon Chu, Senior Policy Analyst with the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network. “The federal government has the evidence showing that such programs providing access to sterile injection equipment are urgently needed in Canadian prisons and that they are successful elsewhere. The failure to act on this evidence has resulted in avoidable HIV and HCV infections that are personally devastating and also very costly to the public purse. Prison health is public health.”