Evaluation Summary – Project to Improve Healthcare for Prisoners and Former Prisoners Living with or Affected by HIV, HCV and Tuberculosis in Mauritius

In Mauritius, the HIV epidemic remains heavily concentrated among key populations, with injecting drug use being the primary driver. The prison environment, in particular, presents major gaps in prevention and harm reduction, leaving prisoners and former prisoners in a situation of great vulnerability to HIV, hepatitis C and tuberculosis.

It is in this context that the project led by PILS, implemented between 2020 and 2024, created a new partnership between civil society and prison services to improve the health of prisoners and former prisoners, while highlighting the need to review national policies to support their social reintegration. The final evaluation highlights the project’s relevance and positive results: a peer education programme, training for prison staff, advocacy for treatment resumption and the start of hepatitis C treatment in prison. Although the project did not achieve all of its objectives, this new dynamic made it possible to achieve notable progress and test new approaches in prisons.