In the department of Correctional Services, HIV and AIDS are not only responsible for a significant number of illnesses and death of employees and inmates; they also result in increased cost of doing business as well as the vulnerability of the workforce and inmates to the pandemic. According to the National HIV and AIDS Strategic Plan, inmates are considered one of the most at risk populations of HIV infection and its effects. However, focusing only on inmates and marginalising employees would compromise the effectiveness of any interventions aimed at this vulnerable group.

In the long-run, the Department of Correctional Services would experience considerable losses of human lives including inmates, reduction in productivity due to AIDS-related absenteeism, increased health-care expenditures, and recruitment and training challenges.

It is against this backdrop that the Department of Correctional Services, with support from the National AIDS Commission embarked on development of a workplace HIV and AIDS policy and strategic plan. The department had already begun to provide for modest interventions aimed at care and support of the HIV infected and affected. However, the Correctional Services workforce and inmates would continue to be affected unless the HIV and AIDS Policy and Strategic Plan were in place to facilitate the implementation of more strategic actions and systematic programmes within the Department in the country as a whole.

Prison authorities in most African states have come to realise that HIV and AIDS have now become a serious development and management problem. Thus, Lesotho Correctional Service through the workplace policy and strategic plan will ensure that both staff and inmates are protected against HIV infection and that those already infected are given all the support they need in terms of treatment, care and support.

In recognition of the disastrous effects of HIV and AIDS in the workplace and in an effort to guide the development and implementation of a robust HIV and AIDS response covering prevention, treatment, care and support, impact mitigation and risk reduction for the Lesotho Correctional Service, The National AIDS Commission provided support to the development of the Correctional Service’s HIV and AIDS Policy and Strategic Plan and commissioned a consultancy to develop these two important documents. This effort anchors on the provisions of the National HIV and AIDS Policy and Strategic Plan.

In developing the policy and strategic plan, a five day workshop was held in which consultants were in consultation with the staff of the LCS, inmates and other stakeholders to ensure that the documents would respond to the needs of the entire prison community.

A one day validation workshop has since been held and both the policy and strategic plan are at their final stages of completion. The biggest challenge for the LCS will be implementation of the two strategic documents taking into consideration the complexities of the institution.