MEXICO CITY, Mexico - HIV-infected Jamaicans are among the many immigrants languishing for months in United States detention centres without proper medical care, and when they are deported, they arrive without even a day's supply of medication or any medical records to continue treatment, according to international rights group, Human Rights Watch.


The information was presented in a report titled 'Chronic Indifference' which was delivered here at the International AIDS Society (IAS) International AIDS Conference.



The report dealt with the troubling issue of detained immigrants dying when their health deteriorated due to lack of appropriate medical care.
Ian Mcknight, board chair of Jamaica AIDS Support for Life (JASL), confirmed the issues highlighted in the report, telling conference delegates that his organisation has dealt with many such cases.

"Over the years we have seen a steady flow of HIV persons being sent back to Jamaica and most come without even another day's supply of medication or medical records," he later told the Sunday Observer.

In those cases, he said, JASL have had to quickly make assessments about drugs, some of which are not the same as the deportees would have access to in the US.
HARVEY. most people who come back know the medication they are on, so that helps 


He said JASL were forced to deal with this problem when infected persons, who were deported, started showing up on their doorsteps, some after wandering the streets for days before they are directed there.

McKnight said a 42-year-old infected woman who lived in the US since she was two years old, was sent back to Jamaica where, without any family connections, she begged for food on the streets for days, afraid to disclose her HIV status.

The situation is even more challenging, as Mcknight said there are no funds in place to work with 'deportees' since most of the donor countries are where they are coming from.
MCKNIGHT. over the years we have seen a steady flow of HIV persons being sent back to Jamaica and most come without even another day's supply of medication or medical records 


McKnight said his JASL have had discussions with the Government aimed at establishing a policy for dealing with persons deported in general as well as those who are infected.

"Until that comes on stream, there will be gaps from being sent home to services they will access," he said.

Although the Ministry of Justice records the number of persons deported, there is no breakdown of how many are HIV-infected, since people are afraid to disclose their status.

Dr Kevin Harvey, head of the National HIV/STI Programme, admitted that it is a challenge for HIV-infected persons who are deported, but said this does not happen in all cases.

He said Canada has been very consistent in notifying them of deportees' HIV status.

The United Kingdom is said to also have a better tracking system.
In other cases, said Dr Harvey, Jamaica has most of the medication available in these countries, to continue treatment.

"Most people who come back know the medication they are on, so that helps," he said.

In the meantime, Rebecca Schleifer of Human Rights Watch accused the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of failing to collect basic information to monitor infected immigrant detainees. She also alleged that the DHS has sub-standard policies and procedures for ensuring appropriate care, and inadequately supervises the care provided.

"The consequence of this wilful indifference is poor care, untreated infection, increased risk of resistance to HIV medications, and even death," she said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which outsources much of its immigration detention to local jails and facilities across the US, also failed, she said, to deliver ARVs regimen in a consistent manner, creating risk of drug resistance for the detainees. Schleifer also alleged that the ICE does not monitor the viral load, which, along with the delivery of an ARV regimen, is key to effective treatment of the disease.

The US has nearly 30,000 immigrants in federal detention centres, privately run prisons and county jails.

The ICE, which is the enforcement unit of the DHS, incarcerates not only undocumented persons but legal permanent residents, asylum seekers, families and unaccompanied children.

While the average length of detention is still unclear, an ICE report in 2006 said detainees from developing countries are held for an average of 89 days.

The report cited several testimonials.

Peter (not his real name) a 43-year-old Jamaican man detained at Hampton Road regional jail in Portsmouth, Virginia, said "sometimes I will get no medication at all, other times I will get one or two out of three."

Diane, a 41-year-old Trinidadian woman detained at Monmouth County Correctional Institution in Freehold, New Jersey, said, "I have no idea what my T cells are, or how I am doing with this virus".

Juan, a 45-year-old man from Aruba, served a sentence in federal prison before he was transferred into ICE custody to be deported.

"When I was deported they told me they would give me a two-week supply of my medication, but when it came time to get on the plane they could not locate them so I was deported without any meds," he said.

Charles, a Jamaican who migrated to Brooklyn, left detention centre with full blown AIDS after his health deteriorated there. Now he is resistant to 13 primary ARVs, which restricts his treatment options, even in the US.

Schleifer said there have been more than 80 deaths in these facilities since 2002. Those do not include the people who died shortly after being released.