Safer Tattooing Sites In Prisons Sitting Idle
Nov. 7, 2006
Stark Raven News

The six tattoo parlours in prisons across Canada are sitting idle after being operational for less than a year.

The federal government says it is reviewing the program and deciding if it should continue funding the sites. They have not set a timeline for the review.

The program's goal was to educate prisoners on safer tattooing, infectious diseases and infection prevention. Selected prisoners were also trained to perform tattoos.

The $700, 000 for the program came from the Public Health Agency of Canada.

For more than a decade there have been calls for safer tattooing sites in prisons. This call comes out of the reality that despite it being illegal, prisoners have been performing underground tattoos for years.

Studies have shown that tattooing performed in unhygienic conditions risks transmitting HIV and hepatitis C.

And the rates of HIV and Hep C infection amongst prisoners is staggering. Prisoners are seven to 10 times more likely to contract HIV than the outside population. The odds of contracting hepatitis C are 30 times higher.

Prisoners and activists question how the impacts of the program can be assessed when it was only up and running for several months. They have also expressed concern that the Conservative government will not continue the program for ideological, not evidence based, reasons.