Evaluation of Effectiveness of HIV Prevention Programs in Penitentiary Facilities

The project assessed the coverage of convicts and prison staff with HIV prevention programs, the impact of these programs on their level of knowledge, and the prevalence of risk practices in terms of HIV-infection among prisoners. The study included a survey of staff and prisoners in 14 penitentiary institutions where HIV prevention programs are being implemented (the main group), and in 3 facilities where such programs are not implemented (control group).

Survey methods:

• Desk review involved the collection and analysis of information about on-going projects in penal facilities (project applications, NGO reports, colony visits register, work plans, contracts with the State Penitentiary Service, etc.).
• Secondary data analysis of previous behavioral and epidemics research, including “Monitoring of the Prisoner Awareness and Behaviour as a Component of Second Generation HIV Surveillance”, conducted by AC “Socioconsulting” in 2007.
• 1692 standardized interviews with prisoners.
• 516 standardized interviews with prisons’ staff.
• 31 in-depth interviews with experts among penitentiary institutions staff, responsible for HIV/AIDS prevention, and responsible for organization of work with NGO.

Survey geography: Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Cherkasy, Odesa, Poltava, Lviv, Vinnytsia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Zaporizhia, Khmelnytsk and Luhansk regions.

• Social services
• Monitoring and evaluation
• HIV
• Health