University of Alberta, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry Department of Medicine Annual Report 2016
Dr. Rabia Ahmed
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Dr. Rabia Ahmed is an infectious disease specialist, associate professor of medicine and physician lead for provincial infection and control at all provincial corrections facilities.
People in correctional facilities have some of the highest rates of infectious diseases such as hepatitis C, HIV and sexually transmitted infections. Dr. Rabia Ahmed is addressing this by bringing specific health services into correctional facilities and monitoring their success. As part of the Northern Alberta HIV Program, she and specially trained staff started an HIV clinic in the Edmonton Remand Centre. Resulting data showed that released inmates were managing their disease better than before incarceration. She is also looking at the best way to increase testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, potentially through opt-out testing, after the success of a pilot project using that approach. Close living quarters, frequent transfers and poor health mean inmates have a higher likelihood of acquiring infections and transmitting them into the broader community after they are released. Dr. Ahmed has implemented strict protocols and best practices for infection control in the provincial correctional system. Incarcerated women often neglect their own health because they are dealing with homelessness, custody of their children, food insecurity, addiction and mental health. Dr. Ahmed started a women’s health clinic in the Edmonton Remand Centre to provide services, including breast health, PAP tests, sexually transmitted infection testing and counselling for intimate partner violence. Similar clinics will be opened at the Fort Saskatchewan and other provincial correctional facilities that house women.
Dr. Ahmed, her colleagues and female inmates also developed an inmate’s resource manual called A Woman’s Guide to Health in Jail. Addressing housing and nutrition is the final and most critical piece for health, Dr. Ahmed says. “As physicians and as academics, we often advocate for patients getting the right drug or the right test or treatment. We also have to advocate for food security. We have to advocate for stable housing.”