For Immediate Release
Media Contact:
Justin Burke - 213.201.1525
EMAIL:jburke@apla.org
AIDS PROJECT LOS ANGELES URGES CALIFORNIA SENATE TO PASS PRISON CONDOM BILL
Los Angeles, CA, August 26, 2005 -- AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA) today called on the state Senate to reverse course and pass a bill allowing for condom distribution in prisons before the end of the current session.
“Everyone from the president on down is calling for action to stem the spread of AIDS, especially among communities of color,” said APLA executive director Craig E. Thompson. “If the state Senate fails to act, then the senators can only expect to see – and to pay for -- needless increases in HIV infections across the state.”
APLA was co-sponsor of AB 1677 (Koretz – West Hollywood) which would have allowed non-profit and health care agencies to distribute condoms in the state’s prisons. The bill died Thursday when the Senate Appropriations Committee failed to move the measure out of committee.
Condoms are already available in city jails in Los Angeles and San Francisco, in several other states, including Mississippi, and in most industrialized countries.
“Everyone knows there is sex in prisons,” Thompson said. “Everyone knows the prison population is disproportionately people of color, and that infection rates among these populations are five to eight times those in the general population.
“When prisoners are released, they can spread HIV in their own communities,” Thompson said. “HIV infection rates among women of color in California are staggering. Rates among young men of color who have sex with men in many urban centers in this country are higher than rates in sub-Saharan Africa.
“Condom distribution in prisons is a common sense public health measure that the Legislature can adopt to help stop the spread of AIDS,” Thompson said. “The Legislature needs to step up to the plate and pass this measure now.”
AIDS Project Los Angeles, one of the largest non-profit AIDS service organizations in the United States, provides bilingual direct services, prevention education and leadership on HIV/AIDS-related policy and legislation. Founded by four friends in 1982, APLA is a community-based, volunteer-supported organization with local, national and global reach. For more information, visit www.apla.org.
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