At a 1987 conference, the WHO experts issued a consensus statement that emphasized the need to perceive the control and prevention of HIV infection in the context of the larger obligation to significantly improve the overall hygiene and health services in prisons. Specific measures should include the provision of education and training to inmates and correctional staff, voluntary HIV antibody testing, confidentially of test results, provision of bleach or other cleaning materials for the tattooing equipment often used by Australian inmates, appropriate treatment of HIV infection and AIDS, and data collection. Australia should also resist political pressures to establish compulsory testing of prisoners and to prohibit the provision of condoms and sterile needles. 13 references