So Truvada, an expensive HIV prevention drug, has been in the news lately. It got me to thinking about our prison population.
I think I know the answer, but I wonder if Truvada will be made available to prisoners. I wonder if it should be.
How do we measure the costs-benefits to something like that?
Those behind bars are part of our community, and the vast majority will be released back into the population at large. It is short-sighted of us to endanger our own health because we fail to reduce the health risk of the incarcerated.
At the same time, we have limited resources, so is our money best spent on expensive treatments for the "bad guys?" (How about we start with making something cheaper available, like condoms?)
Like usual, the issue is more complicated than that:
- There are other modes of transmission in jail other than unprotected sex.
- We have to be careful in any drug therapy of fostering drug-resistance.
- Other diseases such as Hepatitis C and Tuberculosis may be even more widespread.
So, again, how do we measure the costs-benefits?
