MICRO-ELIMINATION OF HEPATITIS C IN THE INCARCERATED POPULATION: IS IT REALLY POSSIBLE?

According to the World Health Organization, 71 million people live with chronic hepatitis C. The treatment of this disease requires assistance from specialized physicians and a highly complex health care system. The prison population has been recognized as being at a high risk of acquiring confinement-related infections, including viral hepatitis. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a primary cause of death owing to liver disease among liberty-deprived individuals. Generally, prisons do not have adequate isolation wards for persons with communicable diseases, and overcrowding is a risk factor for this population. Besides prison overcrowding, violence, poor sanitary conditions, low socioeconomic status, social isolation, and emotional instability are factors that can lead detainees to adopt unhealthy habits that make them more susceptible to infections, including HCV, and complicate effective treatment. The Criminal Execution Law 7, 210 of July 11, 1984, in Article 14, grants preventive and curative medical, dental, and pharmacological healthcare to detainees. However, adequate hepatitis C treatment is rarely provided at prisons owing to social stigma and lack of knowledge on the severity of this condition or because most detainees are unaware of their condition. Given the multiple limitations imposed by the prison system model, implementing measures to treat diseases effectively is challenging. However, it is possible to eliminate hepatitis C in prisons in the long term through the coordinated action of public health institutions and the prison system.