The effectiveness of harm reduction programs in seven prisons of Iran

Background: starting in 1990 many programs were initiated to prevent and control the spread of hiv/aids in pris-ons in accordance with the policies of the ministry of health. this study attempts to evaluate the effectiveness of harm reduction programs vis-à-vis drug abuse and dependency in 7 prisons in iran. methods: the methodology used is before-after testing and the sample population is incarcerated prisoners in 7 large prisons in 7 provinces with diverse geographical,criminal,and numerical factors and the population sample is estimat-ed at 2,200 inmates. results: findings show that drug addiction tests conducted on prisoners,right after their admittance indicated that 57% used at least one of the three drugs of morphine,amphetamines,and hashish (52% morphine,4.5% ampheta-mines,and 3.9% hashish). two months later,on the 2nd phase of the study,test results indicated that only 10% of subjects continued using drugs (p=0.05). heroin and opium were the two most prevalent drugs. smoking,oral in-take,and sniffing were the three most popular methods. of those who continued to use drugs in prison,95% admitted to drug use records. conclusion: intervention policies in prisons resulted in reduction of drug consumption,from 57% of the newly ad-mitted inmates to 10% after two months of incarceration.