The HIV Voluntary Testing Program began in the San Francisco County Jails as a response to inmates not taking advantage of the opportunity to test at Confidential or Anonymous Test Sites while out of custody. As jails in California primarily house inmates for short periods of time, community testing has always been strongly encouraged by the Health Educators who work daily in all four jails. Inmates in San Francisco perhaps not unlike those in North American jails use their incarceration time to seek primary medical care and to take care of other health needs. There exists in the State of California legislation which impacts the confidentiality of inmates who self report HIV positivity at reception into a facility or who test antibody positive while in custody. This paper will present both the findings of the results of the HIV Voluntary Testing and Prevention Program in the jails and the ethical dilemmas for health care professionals providing these services in the environment in which confidentiality is compromised.

Publication Types:

• Meeting Abstracts
  

• Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
• Anonymous Testing
• California
• HIV Infections
• HIV Seropositivity
• Immunologic Techniques
• Mass Screening
• Residential Facilities
• San Francisco
• instrumentation