Your article on the planned same-sex marriage in Full Sutton prison (21 February) quotes a source as saying that providing condoms to prisoners who need them “is not official policy”. Providing condoms to prisoners who need them is prison policy in England (the Health and Justice Indicators of Performance Guidance 2014 states that prisoners should be able to access condoms).
It is a fact that sex takes place in prison, and preventing the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections is considered an obligation and a health priority. Supporting prisoners to look after their own health, and the health of others, is an important part of rehabilitation and an opportunity to protect wider public health.
Eleanor Briggs
National Aids Trust
