September 2008 — The level of HIV/AIDS infection among prison populations continues to present a significant public health challenge in Thailand. To uncover the risks of HIV transmission and the feasibility of interventions in Thai prisons, FHI 360 partnered with the Thai Department of Corrections (DOC) to conduct an assessment survey. Based on the findings from this assessment, which identified the main risk behaviors for HIV transmission in prison and insufficient knowledge of HIV/AIDS among prison guards, FHI 360 and the DOC developed a training manual for prison guards. Specifically, this training curriculum aimed to sensitize prison staff on HIV prevention, care and support.
With funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Regional Development Mission for Asia (USAID/RDMA), FHI 360 and DOC collaborated with Médecins Sans Frontières-Belgium to prepare and field test the curriculum. The curriculum was used to train three batches of 100 prison guards at Bang Kwang Central Prison. Bang Kwang is the largest death-sentence and long-term-sentence, high-security prison in Thailand, housing about 5,000 male inmates. It is located in the Nonthaburi Province and houses many foreign prisoners.
The main topics covered in the education sessions included facts about HIV/AIDS, including HIV/AIDS transmission, risk assessment, prevention and condom use, care and treatment for people living with HIV, and daily living with inmates who have HIV. FHI 360 and DOC supervised the education sessions and provided support to the master trainers.
The findings and procedures from the pilot of this training curriculum are detailed in this report.