§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps are being taken to monitor the levels of hepatitis B and C within prisons in Scotland; how many inmates in the prison system have hepatitis B and C; what guidance his Department gives for the treatment of prisoners with hepatitis B and C; what measures are being taken to minimise the spread of hepatitis B and C within Scottish prisons; and if he will make a statement. [39891]
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThe subject of the question relates to matters undertaken by the Scottish Prison Service. I have asked its chief executive, Mr. E. W. Frizzell, to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from E. W. Frizzell to Mr. Archy Kirkwood, dated 15 October 1996:
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton has asked me to reply to your question about the steps taken by the Scottish Prison Service to deal with hepatitis B and C within prisons in Scotland.The Scottish Prison Service encourages inmates at risk of hepatitis B and C (principally those who have been involved in intravenous drug misuse) to come forward for voluntary testing on a confidential basis. For that reason it is not possible to state how many prisoners are infected with hepatic B and/or C. In a survey of 14 establishments in April 1995, however, there had been 48 positive results for hepatitis B out of 264 blood tests carried out in the previous year on prisoners at risk. The records of a sample of known intravenous drug users recently admitted to prison were also scrutinised. Ten per cent of the 165 prisoners involved were known to be hepatitis B positive, 47% were negative while for 43% the hepatitis status was not known. As regards hepatitis C, in Shotts Prison (with 465 adult male prisoners), 21 prisoners sought tests between January and July this year, of which 13 were positive (2 being confirmations of earlier tests). In Cornton Vale prison (for females) over the same period 27 out of 40 tests for hepatitis C were positive. For hepatitis B 6 tests out of 29 were positive.Immunisation against hepatitis B is available to prisoners and support treatments are provided as appropriate by prison medical officers, including the use of Interferon if required. The Medical Adviser to the SPS will shortly be issuing guidance to prison medical officers based on best practice in the NHS.Information is provided to prisoners through leaflets and clinics. As part of a wider hygiene initiative, disinfectant tablets are available to all prisoners for cleaning utensils. So far as is known these tablets will also kill hepatitis B and C.