Since 2007, the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services has taken a proactive, surveillance-backed approach to health care and has seen several areas of medical treatment become more effective as a result.
The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services operates all state and Baltimore pretrial facilities, which includes the Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center, the Baltimore City Detention Center and the Pretrial Release Services Program.
The department credits constant education and outreach to staff and inmates to the decline in infections diseases including HIV.
"Our main mission is to protect the public and turn out people who are better re-entering society than they were when they came into prison," said DPSCS spokesperson Erin Julius.
Many inmates enter the system with longstanding medical issues that have gone unchecked. Healthier inmates are more likely to be able to participate in life-changing programs, education and treatment, which can send them back into society better prepared for the life of working, taxpaying citizens, Julius said.
"We have done a far better job of identifying and treating chronic conditions, as well as linking inmates with continuing care on the outside," Julius said.
Here is some of the data from the department's website:
Testing for HIV has increased by 308 percent since Fiscal Year 2007, when only 3,774 inmates were tested for the virus. In FY12, 15,385 inmates were tested for HIV.
Of inmates being treated for the HIV virus, 82 percent are at undetectable levels, based on CDC standards, an increase of 3 percent since FY09.
Emergency room visits for inmates have been reduced by 37 percent since FY07.
Infectious disease admissions have dropped from 321 to 133 cases from FY08 to FY12.
For more information visit the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services at http://www.dpscs.state.md.us.
