People in the U.S. prison system are ten times more likely to have Hepatitis C than someone in the general population. But several lawsuits in states across the country allege that prisons and jails often have inadequate testing and treatment options for people currently incarcerated. In response to one such lawsuit, the Connecticut Department of Corrections announced it would hire 30 people to start screening all people in their prison system for Hepatitis C.
But the Hepatitis C rate among incarcerated people is still holding steady at 13 percent, and advocates are saying this goes beyond prison walls. Anne Spaulding, a professor and researcher at Emory University's School of Public Health, joined The Takeaway to discuss how this has become a matter of public health.
Amy Breihan, a staff attorney and director of the MacArthur Justice Center in Missouri, also joined the program to explain the situation in Missouri, where people currently incarcerated are demanding emergency relief for Hepatitis C as they wait for a lawsuit to run its course.
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